Before this gentleman goes into hibernation until next year`s festive period, I thought I would ask him to stick around to wish you...

.....with all good wishes to you, your friends and family for what I hope will be a happy, peaceful and enjoyable year....

A DESERVED HONOUR...

I have long been a bit cynical as far as the normally discredited honours system is concerned but today an MBE has been awarded to Southampton legend Francis Benali, not for his prowess as a destructive full back in days gone by but for his achievement in raising over £1 million for Cancer Research in performing a quite outstanding series of daunting physical and mental challenges by running to all 20 Premier League grounds in a matter of three weeks - the equivalent of running two marathons a day. 

So, congratulations to Frannie on a well deserved honour. 

As for me, I have a couple of routines that I like to follow.  The first is to buy the local newspaper each week and I turn to the obituary column;  if my name doesn`t appear, then I just carry on for another week.  The second is that each time the `honours` are announced I look to see if my name appears there as well;  so far it hasn`t, much to my relief as I would hate to have to dress up and go to the Palace to receive a gong - far too much pretension and trouble for me.  Although years ago, to be fair, Mrs. Snopper and I were invited to a Queen`s Garden Party at the Palace but we declined as gracefully as we could we simply because we really didn`t want to go - too much pretension and trouble for us.

So I look back on my life in a desperate search to see if I can claim any `honourable mentions` and the best I can come up with goes back to my National Service days, all of sixty years ago now.   Us enforced conscripts were not supposed to like or conform to the ways of the regular army and so we spent a lot of time complaining, much of the time soto voce amongst ourselves, adopting the art of `ticking` - as such complaining was known as.  

We became so practised at the art that we formed our own association - the  Tenth Hussars National Service Ticking Association (THNSTA,) which required a certain amount of ticking to be recorded in order to gain entry to that exclusive club and then be able to add NSTA to any military documents requiring our signature.  A similar `honour` went to those who were admitted to the PA Club, entry to which required the consumption of eight pints (or German equivalent) of the local Paderborner export bier in a fixed amount of time down at Fritz`s nearby hostelry. (I`m sure you don`t need me to explain what PA stands for.)

And so I was able to attach NSTA and PA (and bar) to my signature during the latter stages of my illustrious defence of Queen and Country.   I still consider that to be more of an honour than any gong I am never going to receive from officialdom although I readily accept that Frannie Benali has thoroughly deserved everything that comes his way.

ONE MORE SLEEP...

.....and Father Christmas lands on my roof with a sack full of goodies.   I can`t begin to describe the excitement I feel but, as I have been told for the past eighty years, "You`ll be fine when you grow up."

Now I`ve been doing this blog, on and off, for some years now and at the last count it has been read by well over 400,000 people.  There`s a gizmo that tells me where these visitors have come from and even in more recent times I see that, among others, there have been over 50,000 `views` from here in the UK;  over 31,000 from the USA;  18,000 from Russia;  5,000 from Germany; and over 3,000 from each of France, Canada and Ukraine.

And as this is the 1954th `post` I have published on this blog, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have viewed my ramblings and rantings which I hope have been of interest but most importantly at this `most wonderful time of the year` I would simply like to say........

.....and all good wishes to you, your neighbours, friends and family in the hope that the world is as kind to you as it is for me.  Back after the festivities have subsided a bit.

Today`s the day.  The day that sad old people like me who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) have looked forward to for weeks if not months.  Now it`s finally here, I feel a sense of relief and the ability at last to look forward to the days lengthening and things looking up.   OK, the weather today here in deepest Kent hasn`t been great - there are warnings of heavy rain and probable flooding and I know that there is some time to go before the return of more daylight and warming sunshine - but the corner is being turned and I`m grateful for that.

The day has been blessed with visits from family, by the Saints winning a must win six pointer away at Aston Villa to climb out of the relegation zone and my neighbour`s heroes, the Gills of Gillingham, also claiming a 3-1 victory.   Maybe it just needed the right date to bring about these minor miracles? 

One of the more intriguing things to emerge from last week`s General Election was the way in which the Labour Party is responding to the drumming it received at the hands of countless disenchanted former Labour voters especially in the Midlands and the north of the country.  And predictably their most pressing concern is who to succeed Oh Jeremy Corbyn as party leader and, more importantly, Leader of Her Majesty`s Loyal Opposition.

And already candidates waiting in the wings are beginning to emerge from beneath assorted stones and various woodwork and it will be interesting to see what qualities will be looked for in the impending competition.  Now, not being a member of the Labour Party or any other political organisation, I`m hardly in a position to comment but there seem to be three choices open to the National Executive and the wider party membership.

The first - and perhaps the least likely - is that they might choose a candidate steeped in the Corbynista tradition, to pursue those policies, hopes and dreams of the now discredited Jezza - not to be recommended I would have thought;  the second might therefore be someone who has got the message from the election, in that for the party to carry on as usual simply will not do and that a root and branch revision of the whole point of the Labour party is what is necessary. Not sure that seems very likely either.

But lastly there is the up to date, modern, politically correct option.  This might already be off the ground as there seems to be an imperative to appoint a woman as leader just because she is a woman. But in order to be attractive to the majority of urban based, middle class, educated party members, she should ideally be either lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender, come from an ethnic minority background, come from somewhere oop north, be state educated, be a devotee of Greta Thunberg, not be in possession of even a scrap of plastic, not be prepared to go to war with anyone for whatever reason, be determined to scrap the country`s nuclear deterrent, be committed to a vegan diet and cycle to work and back each day.

Shouldn`t be too difficult.

Well, that`s how it feels right now.  Last evening I watched Southampton lose to West Ham 1-0 in what for both teams might well have been a must win six pointer.  Sadly for me, the three points on offer went to the visitors to St. Mary`s and left the Saints still (just) in the relegation zone of the Premier League.   So next week`s away fixture against Aston Villa is even more crucial, as the Villa are one place above the Saints thanks to a superior goal difference.

Now, some of my very good friends are West Ham supporters and they have been conspicuous by their silence following last night`s events.  They may be keeping quiet out of respect for the feelings of an octogenarian Saints fan but they need not be concerned - Southampton were awful and West Ham deserved to win.

But that is the sixth time in the last nine games that the Saints have lost at home and despite a recent mini revival, it really does seem that there are severe problems surrounding the club, its Oriental owner, its eclectic collection of coaching staff and the distinct lack of quality and character amongst the playing squad.  So it may be just a matter of time before the walls come tumbling down.

So I need to look elsewhere for some solace after this disappointment and I see that Truro City continue to top the league in the Vanarama National League South Division following yet another away win at Hayes and Yeading;  Gillingham cemented their place in mid table of League One with a creditable 1-1 draw away at Fleetwood and Wimbledon managed a 2-1 win against Doncaster, despite the enforced absence through injury of Captain Scott Wagstaff;   Maidstone United conjured up a late defeat against Concord Rangers (neither have I) in the FA Trophy and Forest Green Rovers slipped again in a 1-0 defeat away at Northampton.   Mercifully Fort William`s game was called off due to bad weather.

Forest Green`s decline over the last couple of weeks has seen them slip from the top of the League Two table but their current problems are as nothing compared to those down at St. Mary`s.   The eternal lot of the dedicated Saints fan shows no sign of changing any time soon but the faith will be kept, the loyalty will remain and life in the Championship might not be so bad after all?

ALL ABOARD.....

You know what it`s like.   You wake up one morning and face an increasingly weird and unreal world and you wonder whether you have woken up in Alice`s wonderland.  Well, I woke up this morning (thank goodness - at my age I`m truly grateful for that) and I look out and it`s cold, frosty, dark and pretty miserable.  I turn on the television and I am immediately assaulted by a kind of trial by media which shouts at me, argues all the time and seems a million miles away from Lord Reith and his three commandments about informing, educating and entertaining.

And then I realise that it`s election day and I face the prospect (some might call it a civic duty) to toddle up the road to the village hall and cast my vote one way or another.   Now here in our deepest Kent enclave, they don`t bother to count the votes, they just weigh them, as it has been a conservative stronghold ever since elections first began, so whichever way I might vote it won`t make the slightest difference to the outcome here.

But as I gaze through the looking glass at the broader picture, the national scene, it confirms that I might be in that fabled wonderland after all.  There seems to be a choice nationally between the fat controller or a mischievous imp with Alice herself bringing up the rear, waiting in the wings to see if she can, after all, pull the strings and fashion the country`s future in her image.   There are, of course, other minor characters to flesh out the cast list - there`s a mad hatter, a queen bee, a monster raving loony and so on.   But whatever the outcome of this election, it is likely to perpetuate the notion that we are living in  some kind of parallel universe where nothing is what it seems, where nothing is true anymore and where despair - or at least resignation - are near neighbours.

So I`ll toddle up the road, cast my vote and sit back and wait to see what happens, although I suspect that once again my senses will be assaulted by the baying media and by politicians who will either be over the moon or sick as parrots.  It`s not a happy prospect.

And all that comes after some truly sad news in recent days - the passing of Bob Willis, Marie Fredriksson and David Bellamy.  Those untimely losses coupled with the beatification of Greta Thunberg as `Person of the Year` just add to the sense of unreality

Beam me up Scotty..............................

COUNTING THE DAYS...

Around sixty years ago I was doing my National Service, having been yanked away from `normal` life to surrender myself to 731 days in the army for Queen and country.  There was no choice but to do it and get on with it, which makes me wonder how the snowflakes of today would cope with something as traumatic as that.  (I suspect the age of `social media` would see mass refusal to have anything to do with it?)

Anyway, one thing that kept me on the right side of sanity was to do a demob chart which consisted on 731 numbers written out on assorted sheets of paper so that each day I could cross one off.  The last sheet had about 100 numbers left and they were arranged in ever decreasing circles, eventually to disappear in the centre as my freedom was restored.

These days no such issues, of course, but instead I find that there are events to which I look forward with doubtful enthusiasm and whilst I have no desire to wish my life away there are certain things at this time of the year that I really hope might pass quickly.

In the next few weeks firstly we have the General Election, of which I am already bored witless and I cannot wait for next Thursday to come and go so that all the  sound and fury, the lies, the shouting, the ranting and all  the false dawns and promises are finally done with and life, whoever wins, can attempt at least to recapture a semblance of normality.

Then it`s Christmas and the New Year,  supposedly the `most wonderful time of the year` but as is now so common with other `events` it becomes little more than an excuse for excess.  As Bart Simpson reminded us, Christmas is the time when we remember the true meaning of Santa`s birthday.   It doesn`t help having it at the dog end of the year when the weather is miserable, the days are short and I`m a bit annoyed with God as to why He or She chose 25th December for the virgin birth.  Ah well, at least the kiddies will enjoy the fairy tales at Christmas time.

I guess the good news in all of this is that there are only another fifteen days before the shortest day of the year.  It can`t come soon enough for me and I can then stop counting the days  and consign another countdown to the refuse bin.

So, as it is the season of goodwill, I hope you have a nice day.  

YOU MAY NOT LIKE THIS...

Well, maybe you will.  It depends.  

I see that Greta Thunberg has been named as Waterstones Author of the Year for her book  "No One is Too Small to make a Difference," which the bookselling chain has described as an "urgent message" as her book consists of the collection of the 16-year old activist`s speeches.  Now normally Waterstones choose a Book of the Year but this year has added the accolade of Author of the Year.

Which says a lot really and sums up the basis for my comments here.  Firstly, it is quite an astonishing decision to grant this award ahead of towering pinnacles of authorship such as John le Carre who this year produced another masterpiece with his latest work, "Agent Running in the Field."   But the Waterstones decision looks very much like another example of bandwagon jumping in order to be associated with Ms. Thunberg and all her works.  

It`s not just Waterstones who have fallen into this beguiling trap, of course;  so-called celebrities, assorted politicians and even the royal family, represented by Prince Harry`s approval, have joined those who may simply feel it fashionable to be associated with this young Swedish `activist,` for whom life will never be the same and certainly not `normal.`

As for me, I don`t know why I should but I feel rather sorry for this young lady.  I`m sure she means well but I fear she has missed out on those things that 16 - year - olds are supposed to be doing at that age.  She doesn`t look happy - too intense, too angry about things - as if she is taking all the troubles of the world on her young shoulders.  She really ought to be allowed to get a life before it`s too late and let those who worship at her feet grow up a bit. 

....and so we say farewell..

.....to yet another `service` on which so many have relied for so many years.  This time it`s the BBC (of course) who have decided to switch off the news and sport text services on the TV red button at the end of January next year.   This has been an invaluable service for reading headlines, updated cricket and football scores and tables, weather, travel news and loads more ever since it was first introduced as Ceefax, then Teletext and more latterly Red Button.

In a statement, the BBC said, "It`s always a difficult decision to reduce services but we have to balance the resources needed to maintain and develop this service with the need to update our systems to give people even better internet-based services.  Viewers can still access this information on the BBC website, BBC News and Sport apps as well as our 24-hour News Channel."

No they won`t.  Not if, like me, you are an octogenarian pensioner struggling to survive on a fixed income or someone who has no internet access or no idea how to access the BBC apps (which I take to mean applications) on a mobile phone which you may not have anyway.

Quite apart from the BBC`s assumption that everyone, yes everyone, has a smart phone, PC, tablet or whatever else and - even if they do - will have the ability to master modern technology, I suspect the real reason for this apparently vindictive withdrawal of a very useful service is to dish out some payback for the uncertainty surrounding the fact that the free TV licences for the over-75s  are likely to be withdrawn next year too.

So, farewell to my red buttoning for things like traffic updates, cricket and football  scores and tables and the football gossip column which gives me probably fake news about the comings and goings in the parallel universe of football.  It is a service which will be much missed but then we do indeed live in a mad world of strange priorities.

Well, two actually.  In a weekend of mixed sporting events I have to report not one, but two disappointing results for teams supported by the cognoscenti of our Kentish enclave.

The first was that Southampton went to the Emirates to take on a troubled Arsenal side and they were doing very nicely, thank you, leading 2-1 deep in to stoppage time.  But - there`s always a but with the Saints - in the 96th minute Arsenal struck home to secure a point apiece in a 2-2 draw.   Now if before the game you had offered me a point away at the Emirates, I would have taken it, especially as the pundits in the Sky build-up programme all had Arsenal winning by about four clear goals. 

So a bit of a kick in the teeth for us Saints fans but perhaps nothing compared to that inflicted on my good friend and neighbour, Mr. Slightly, the well known Gillingham aficionado.  His team went to Wimbledon, for whom our street`s erstwhile near neighbour Scott ("Waggy") Wagstaff plies his trade not only as a box-to-box pacy flanker but also as captain of the Dons.   And - there`s always an and with the Gills - it was Captain Scott who scored for Wimbledon with a decisive finish to secure a 1-0 win over Mr. Slightly`s downcast outfit.

Elsewhere Truro City - for the third time in three weeks -  made the 400-mile round trip to Blackfield, my wartime childhood retreat close to Southampton Water but this time came away with a 2-0 win to keep them in second place in their league;  Forest Green Rovers also had a good away win, this time 4-2 at Leyton Orient which also keeps them in the promotion hunt, whilst Maidstone United have to play again against Dartford to decide who goes into the next round of the FA Trophy.

So maybe not all bad news after all - just don`t mention the cricket.

Last night - on the coldest, most frosty evening of the season so far, my good friend and neighbour, the admirable Mr. Slightly, ventured to the Priestfield Stadium at Gillingham to watch his footballing heroes take on the might of Sunderland in an FA Cup replay, the Gills having secured a creditable draw away at the curiously named Stadium of Light about ten days ago.

But the real heroes of this ramble are not the Gillingham team or their ample manager, Steve Evans, but those who decided to go and watch the game anyway, including my neighbour, of course.   He and his Gills supporting chums were rewarded with their team winning 1-0 after extra time, thus securing a place in the Second Round Proper of the FA Cup where they will play Doncaster Rovers.  For it was Doncaster who overcame Wimbledon - captained once more by our street`s sporting icon Captain Scott Wgastaff  - in another FA Cup replay last night and The Dons will not be looking forward to their trip to Gillingham, which is always a difficult place to go to.

But on the question of heroes, spare a thought for the 329 Sunderland supporters who made the 600-mile round trip to watch their team go out of the competition after extra time.  And it`s that bit that makes their journey that much more heroic.  I guess the game finally ended well past 10.00pm, they then had to escape the rigours and vagaries of the visitors` uncovered open stand at Priestfield which is not a good place to be on a long, cold, unsuccessful frosty night and make the journey back to their northern outpost.   God only knows what time they got back home.

I suppose it might be the underdog in me - as a Saints fan I readily identify with plucky minnows - but I do admire the true supporters of struggling teams, some of whom, like Sunderland, have fallen on hard times and others who have never known anything other than constantly dreaming that one day things will be different;  hence my penchant for clubs like Fort William and Truro City, whose fans undertake journeys in support of their own causes, lost or otherwise, which strike me as truly heroic.

So let`s hear it for the unsung heroes, those who give their devotion, time and resources to following their chosen club - I just hope that they are admired and respected by those clubs in return.   And that goes for Gillingham too.

A HAVEN OF REFUGE...

The last leg of our day`s wander through the more distant parts of Kent took us to the village/township of Elham.  (I wonder when a hamlet becomes a village, a village becomes a township, a township becomes a proper town and so on....)

Elham lies, unsurprisingly, in the lovely Elham Valley and within the `Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,` so I`m a little surprised that it is not more `touristy` than it sems to be.   Maybe it was because  we visited on a late Autumn day in the late afternoon but there was an air of quiet contentment about the place.  We hardly saw anyone during our amble around, during which I took a couple of photos - the one at the top kind of sums up the sleepy ambience of Elham and the one below shows an example of the architecture that typifies the village......  

Which might explain why it has become something of a haven of refuge, not only for those seeking a quiet backwater away from the maelstrom of modern day Britain but also for those, in times gone by, who were seeking escape and solace from other forms of intensity.  A couple of examples:-

Former Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden lived at Park Gate just outside of Elham during the Second World War and award winning actress Audrey Hepburn spent some of her childhood in Elham during the same period.  (Elham is not the sort of place to `commercialise` its claims to fame but the entrepreneur in me would suggest that opening a place that does breakfasts and calling it Tiffany`s might work?)  

A quiet corner of Elham

Now Kent is of course a hotbed of cricket and it`s really no surprise to discover that Kent and England wicket-keeper/batsman Les Ames was born and brought up in Elham and another Kent and England cricketer, Mark Ealham used to live in The Square in the village.  (The clue is in the name, I guess.)  Among others finding peace in this tranquil setting is actress Pam Ferris, who has lived in Elham for the past ten years.

So it has a lot going for it and it was a real pleasure to spend a little time there, discovering its charm and some of its secrets and I look forward to our next adventures into the hidden byways of the county of Kent.

Part two of our journey through hitherto unknown parts of deepest Kent saw us say a fond farewell to Wickhambreaux and venture to the nearby village/township of Wingham.  Not too sure what to make of Wingham.  It seems pleasant enough - plenty of architectural interest but it`s spoiled by having a main road (the A257 from Canterbury to Sandwich) running through it.   Wingham also seems to lack any real claim to fame but its church has a sundial above the main door rather than a clock and Wingham is allegedly the former home of `celebrity chef` Paul Hollywood so you can see what I mean about its claim to fame.   

But I did come across a coffee shop with the intriguing name of `The Politician`s Daughter.`  After a few bells rang in my head I realised that that was a snippet from a popular song which was first recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1946.  It contains the line:-

"A politician`s daughter 
Was accused of drinking water
And was fined a great big fifty dollar bill.
They`ve got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil."

And that was about it for Wingham, so off we went to our next stop which was the hamlet of Barfrestone, which I had heard about but never visited before.  It lies in a pretty remote area of east Kent which used to include the now defunct Kent Coal Fields.  Barfrestone used to have a pub - it`s now a private house;  it used to have a telephone box - it still has the box but no telephone.

But the glory of Barfrestone and the reason for our visit is its 12th century Norman church of St. Nicholas which is a Grade 1 listed building and has been described as the best Norman church in the country.  The quality and profusion of the decoration is breathtaking.  The outstanding feature is the south doorway but there is also a fine and rare Norman wheel window.  There is so much to see and admire both inside and out.

Here are a couple of photos I took on our visit:- (Please click on them for better images).......

New light through old windows

  

The wheel window

For much more about this glorious and very special church, please visit http://www.greatenglishchurches.co.uk/html/barfreston.html

ANOTHER RECORD TO CHERISH ?

I think I`ve arrived at that stage where there is no point in being cross about it.  Instead, as Southampton FC lurch to yet another home defeat, this time at the hands of Everton, I seem to have been overcome by a feeling of almost benign amusement.  Yesterday`s game was billed as yet another in a long line of `must win six pointers` but the 2-1 home defeat leaves the Saints next to bottom of the Premier League with the worst goal difference in the league.  

Moreover, following the recent 9-0 stuffing by Leicester City which made history by being the record home defeat by any team ever in the history of the Premier League, yesterday`s defeat set yet more milestones in what is becoming a season to forget.  It marked the worst ever start to a season in over 130 years of competitive football for the Saints and the return of only one point from six home matches played so far has equalled that set by Blackpool way back in the 1930s.   So history continues to be made.

Just a few miles up the road from Southampton is the small village of Blackfield, where I spent much of the war in an aunt`s house with my mother whilst my father was away being a prisoner of war for five years.  I played my first football there at the age of about five which I imagine is when the romance with the game may have started.   

Blackfield and Langley (the adjoining hamlet) now have a team playing in the Southern League South Division and yesterday they had a replay against Truro City in the FA Trophy qualifying round, having drawn at Truro in the week. In front of a recorded `crowd` of 57,  Blackfield won 3-1 and so not only did Truro have to wearily trudge the 200 and more miles back home but it also marked another disappointment in my affection for the Cornish White Tigers despite my divided loyalties on this occasion.

The good news is that Gillingham went all the way to Sunderland on Friday night and came away with a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup, so my neighbour will be `up for it` when the replay takes place at Priestfield nextTuesday evening. Wimbledon too had a 1-1 draw in the Cup at at home against Doncaster Rovers, so our street`s local hero Scott ("Buzzin` Six-pack") Wagstaff and his chums have to make the journey to the Don Valley Stadium for their replay also next Tuesday evening.   Forest Green Rovers had a 4-0 win in the Cup against Billericay and Maidstone pulled off a surprise 1-0 win against Torquay United.

So it`s not all bad then.  Just most of it.

ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY..

To Wickhambreaux with my eldest son to begin our expedition of Kent villages I have never been to before. We picked a glorious early winter day with the sun nestling above a startling blue sky.

Wickhambreaux lies some miles to the east of Canterbury among the hidden lanes of east Kent and has a long recorded history going back to Roman times.  It is first mentioned in 948, so over 1,100 years ago, when King Eadred granted land to a woman of religion.   The village, for it is no more than that, still retains its medieval pattern with the Church, manor house, rectory, inn and mill encircling the village green.

The 13th Century Church of St. Andrew (see my photo above) was restored in 1868 and is known for its art nouveau stained glass window of the Annunciation which dates from 1896.  This was the first commission given in Europe to American glassworkers, designed by Arild Rosenkrantz and manufactured in the New York studio of John La Farge.  Here`s a photo I took of the window.......

The churchyard of St. Andrew`s includes a memorial resting place of one of the Dambusters heroes - Squadron Leader David Maltby, DSO, DFC, who completed over 30 bomber operations during World War 2 before being killed when his aeroplane crashed in the North Sea in 1943 returning from an operation that was cancelled due to bad weather.   He was just 23 years old.

We strolled around the village and were struck by the quietness, the peace and almost timelessness of it all.  One of the reasons for our visit was to  see `Quaives`, an imposing residence mostly hidden behind imposing walls and hedges, for this was the former residence of chanteuse par excellence Christine McVie of the Fleetwood Mac rock combo.  She settled here to find some peace and refuge from the mad world of rock `n` roll but perhaps it was a little too quiet and so she moved on and the property is now a holiday and retreat centre; despite which we duly paid our homage to the much admired Christine.

So we enjoyed Wickhambreaux and here are a couple more photos I took that might capture something of the uniqueness of the place......

The Stour river flowing through the village

Wisteria Cottage

(As ever with my photos, please click on them for much better images.)

It comes to something when yet another defeat for my beloved Saints contributes to a feeling of light relief.  But yesterday`s battling performance away at Manchester City (again) proved that there might be some hope after all that the team can yet redeem themselves from the 9-0 hammering at the hands of Leicester City just over a week ago.   Yesterday the Saints held a 1-0 lead deep into the second half until two late goals from the current champions meant that once again the Saints came away empty handed and remain stuck in the relegation zone.   But, whilst it`s true that it is the hope that kills you, it still springs eternal and the signs are encouraging.

But I found myself once again looking for genuine relief in sport from the awful prospect of six weeks of electioneering by a bunch of politicians on all sides who do not deserve to be taken seriously.  I`m already tired of being shouted at, lied to and being told what to think not only by the politicians of this world but also the alleged impartial media.

So anything to get away from all that is welcome in the next few weeks and to be fair although England losing the World Cup Rugby Final to South Africa was disappointing at least it was a fair result in a sport where respect for officials and their decisions is paramount.

In other news, despite our street`s local hero getting booked again, Wimbledon salvaged a point in a 1-1 home draw against Lincoln City - a result which takes them out of their own relegation zone.  Forest Green Rovers went top of their league with yet another away win and it would indeed be a remarkable thing for a village team from nowhere if, at the end of the season, they gain promotion again, this time to League One.

Not so good elsewhere.  Gillingham went down 3-0 at home to Rotherham, much to my neighbours disquiet;  Maidstone lost 2-1 away and both Fort William and Truro City fell victims to the weather with both of their games called off due to waterlogged pitches.

I`ve said it before, I know, but if sport used to be the last refuge for those who find it impossible to idle, perhaps it is now the first point of refuge for those who cannot stand the lunacy of the hustings?

Sure is.   Maybe it`s the time of the year or maybe, as I get older, the events of the year become less and less appealing.  Maybe it`s just me but as darkness descends in late afternoon and the first frosts of winter arrive on cold easterly winds I find myself looking at what is in store for us over the next few weeks and months.

And what a depressing prospect it is.  To get arguably the most painful issue out of the way and done with first, I have so far received no response to my appeal on the village web page for help from a local psychoanalyst to provide some much needed counselling following the Saints embarrassing drubbing at the hands of Leicester City last Friday.  It didn`t get any better last night as they went down to a 3-1  Cup defeat away at Manchester City and they now face the prospect of yet another morale crushing encounter at the Etihad in a league match this coming Saturday.   Next week I might reach crisis point.

And before us lies a series of events, some trivial, some downright ridiculous, others simply irksome -  I leave you to decide which is which..  They begin tomorrow night with the imported nonsense of Halloween when kids roam the streets, knock on doors and demand to be given treats or else.  Then comes Bonfire Night, celebrating the failed attempt to blow up Parliament about 400 years ago (it would make more sense to celebrate a successful attempt to blow up Parliament?)  Trouble is, with all the banging and crashing, out faithful Golden retriever will probably go bonkers and we will have yet another disturbed night.

Then the prospect of yet another General Election in early December.  I don`t know about you but I am heartily tired of politics and especially the politicians who have behaved quite abominably over the past three and a bit years in their dismal failure to carry out the `instruction` they were given by the majority of electors to sensibly arrange an orderly departure from the oppressive clutches of the European Union.   The General Election campaign got off the ground this morning and already I am tired of hearing yet more lies disguised as party manifestos and spending pledges.

After that you would think that Christmas would come as light relief but sadly it is nowadays little more than another excuse for a commercial bonanza which has lost all sense of the true meaning of Christmas which, as Bart Simpson recalled, is when we all come together to celebrate Santa`s birthday.  Ho ho ho !!

And then it`s New Year`s Day and yet more banging, crashing and Retriever meltdown.

You can tell I`ve not had a good time lately - a streaming cold and hacking cough (aka man `flu,) four visits to the dentist in the last couple of weeks, a visit to the optician to get a prescription for new glasses following cataract operations and the onset of my Seasonal Affective Disorder (SADness.)

But I must pull myself together, count my blessings, put on a brave face with a stiff upper lip and face the coming period with more optimism and hope.  It would help if England win the Rugby World Cup on Saturday and the Saints manage to turn their current slough of despond into the sunny uplands of Premier League survival but maybe that is asking just too much of a troublesome world.

Have a nice day!

MORE ROUGH THAN SMOOTH..

Since being taken to The Dell by my late father in 1946 to see my first ever Saints game, I have witnessed many twists and turns, many ups and downs and I seemed automatically to adopt the default condition of being a  Southampton supporter by being continually bewildered by the unpredictability of it all.   There have been some very good times indeed - promotions, trophies won, trips to Wembley, even European competitions - but there have also been some bad times too - relegations, threats of liquidation, painful results - but nothing has come close to the humiliation of losing 0-9 at home in the Premier League, as happened last night against a rampant Leicester City side.

Today, not surprisingly, the fans forums, press reports, media coverage have all been about that historic defeat (at least we made history) and there is a general feeling that something needs to happen and quickly to recover from this `disaster` (R. Hasenhuttl.)   As last night`s game unfolded my initial hope quickly turned to disappointment which, as the rain pelted down and the goals rained in, turned to anger, then despair, then a kind of benign resignation and finally the return of that default condition - our old friend bewilderment.

I`m used to taking the rough with the smooth but last night`s abject failure again confirmed that if you are a Saints fan then you have to be prepared to live with - and perhaps accept - that there is invariably much more rough than smooth.  Kipling`s twin impostors  teach us to treat triumph and disaster in the same way, but sometimes it`s easier said than done -  especially as next up are two games away at Manchester City.

Pass the sal volatile !!

ONCE MORE INTO THE BREACH...

To Sevenoaks for a bit of an emergency visit to my dentist.  Had a filling come out of one of my gnashers which needed fixing.  Some other work needed doing as well so I have to go back later today for another appointment.

It`s just as well that, many years ago now, I discovered the most skilled and understanding dentist it`s possible to know, one who specialises in the treatment of  elderly gentlemen of a nervous disposition as far as dentistry is concerned.   I`m one of them but over the years the attention I have had from her has seen my abject fear of dentistry just about disappear.   Nevertheless, whilst I hope that today will see the end of this particular problem it would not surprise me if I am invited back for another visit before long.  Especially now that I have reached the stage in life when things start dropping off and falling out and going wrong.

Seems to me that dentists are like plumbers or electricians - once you find a good one then hang on to them. 

WELL WORTH A VISIT...

To Maidstone - a rare occurrence these days - to see the exhibition in Maidstone Museum which tells the story, the ups and downs, the good times and not so good of being a supporter of Maidstone United Football Club.  I had not been in the museum for over half a century and I have to say that today`s visit left me very impressed with the museum itself and the quite excellent exhibition about `The Stones.`

When my sons were young, I used to take them regularly to the old football ground in London Road and so seeing the exhibits from the history of the club brought back many happy memories of being amongst friends on the half-way line in the Charrington shed cheering the team to many a victory.   The exhibition is well worth a visit and to describe it better than I can here is a bit I have nicked from the museum website:-

Maidstone: United in Football

Sat 14th Sep 2019 to Sat 18th Jan 2020 - All Day

Exhibitions

Maidstone: United in Football

Maidstone: United in Football not only tells the remarkable history of football in the town. It also paints a vivid picture of how the game has been bringing people of diverse backgrounds together for well over a century.

The story of Maidstone football is special. The town has had a pioneering role in a number of different aspects of the game. And its representative club famously plummeted further than any in history after being ejected from the Football League, yet has since embarked on an extraordinary renaissance.

The exhibition has exclusive access to a collection of memorabilia compiled by Maidstone United’s former chairman Jim Thompson: a collection that, including its many trophies, mementoes, photographs, and cuttings, runs to several thousand items.

Maidstone: United in Football is open from 10am to 5pm on Tuesdays to Sundays from September 14 to October 27, and then on Tuesdays to Saturdays until 18 January 2020,

SOMETHING MISSING ?

Funny how long lost lyrics come back to you and current affairs brought to mind  Sheldon Harnick`s `The Merry Minuet,` which begins

"They`re rioting in Africa

They`re starving in Spain.

There`s hurricanes in Florida

And Texas needs rain.

The whole world is festering

With unhappy souls.

The French hate the Germans

The Germans hate the Poles.

Italians hate the Yugoslavs

South Africans hate the Dutch......

...and I don`t like anybody very much.....¬

And the way the world is right now confirms that not much has changed since those words were written over half a century ago. Nowadays we have riots in Catalonia, Hong Kong, Chile and Lebanon to name but a few.  Not to mention the events in Syria, the Turkish border, Yemen and goodness knows where else in the fractured world of humankind.  Then there are marches and unrest about things like climate change and the way things are in the good ol` U of K  the conflicting persuasions of Brexit will no doubt add to the list of places where disenchantment is showing its ugly side.

But there are some things that we don`t hear that much about - something`s missing.  The BBC, as selective as ever in its disjointed sense of priority, seems to be ignoring the ongoing incidents in France where the yellow brigade are still rampaging through the streets on pretty much a daily basis and yet we don`t hear much about it - same with Barcelona to a degree where brief BBC comment passes as in depth reporting.

And I wonder why that is.  Could it be, for instance, that the BBC is reluctant to draw too much attention to events within the EU for fear of upsetting our European friends and neighbours and more especially those, like the BBC itself, who are clinging on to the undemocratic view that the UK should remain a member of that discredited institution?   Just asking, that`s all, but it would not surprise me.

Back to climate change for a minute and back to the concluding lines of The Merry Minuet.......

"Thy`re rioting in Africa
There`s strife in Iran.
What nature doesn`t do to us
Will be done by our fellow man."