GOOD NEWS AND GOOD NEWS...

It`s not often that I get interested in mergers, acquisitions and takeovers but the last few days have seen two lots of good news for people, like me, with concerns about affairs in and around Southampton.

First the good news about the Hythe Ferry. I grew up in Hythe on the western shore of Southampton Water and the ferry from Hythe to Southampton`s Town Quay was part of the permanent fixtures of my happy childhood.  I used to be taken on the ferry by my mother when she needed to go shopping and by my father to go to The Dell to watch Southampton - the Saints - playing in the old Second Division.  

For some years the ferry operation has been under threat as a result of falling passenger numbers and increased running costs and has only been kept going with subsidies from Hampshire County Council, who see it as a vital part of the transport links between the city and the Waterside.  More recently the prospect of the ferry having to close has become more acute but the good news is that both the ferry and the unique pier from which it operates are to be taken over by Blue Funnel , a long established and vastly experienced company operating from Southampton.   As a ferry has operated between Hythe and Southampton since at least 1575, when it was shown on Saxton`s map of the area, the news that its future is now secure is good news indeed.

The second bit of good news is that the Chinese Investment Group, Lander Sports, have now confirmed to the Stock Exchange that their interest in acquiring a stake in Southampton Football Club has now been abandoned.  For over a year now, they have been in discussion with representatives of the Saints` current owner, Katharina Liebherr and have had a lengthy period of exclusivity as the discussions have taken place.  

For Saints fans like me, this is also good news, as the current ownership has proved to be both benevolent and efficient and has seen the club rise from the depths of the third tier of English football into an established place in the Premier League.   It might be a case of `better the devil you know` but, as a former shareholder, the prospect of the club changing hands and leaping once more into the unknown was not a happy one for me.

All`s well that ends well?

"LIGHTS WILL GUIDE YOU HOME..."

Well, as you can see, my bucket list is just about non-existent, possibly because I live in my fantasy world where I don`t expect to `pass on` any time soon or more probably because I really can`t be bothered to write a list and even if I could I`m not at all sure what it might contain.

But I came across something on F***book the other day that made me think that, after all, there might be something I would like to do and in a place where I might like to do it. It`s being in a flash mob down at Southampton`s Westquay shopping mall, singing Coldplay`s `Fix You.`   A few reasons for that.  I love good music, of course, as you can tell from my frequent posts nicking videos from Youtube.  Then there is my affection for Southampton, the centre of my boyhood spent at the Waterside village of Hythe on the western shore of Southampton Water.  And my love of Southampton FC, one of whose more famous fans is Coldplay drummer Will Champion, local boy made good if ever there was one.

And it all comes together in this flash mob performance by local choirs at Westquay, which left me with a lump in my throat, a few goosebumps and a tear in my eye.  Now, this video doesn`t appear on Youtube - it`s of F***book - so uploading it on to here isn`t the easiest thing; but if you highlight the link below then right click on it, an option appears to go to the website.  Fingers crossed it works and you can enjoy it as much as I did:-

https://www.facebook.com/dancoopermusicuk/videos/1471725966205925/

LITTLE AND LARGE....

Some years ago now, I was on the Hythe Ferry on the way home from watching a game at St. Mary`s Stadium and just as the ferry left Southampton Town Quay, one of the gigantic cruise liners - I can`t remember which one - inched its way out of the Ocean Terminal and was on course to slice through the ferry.   Of course, it didn`t happen because the ferry skipper knew his place and backed off to let the cruise liner go on its way.  It was pitch dark and I remember looking up from the ferry at the enormity of the cruise ship, all lights shining, and looking just like a mobile block of flats.

This photo I took from Calshot reminded me of that incident, with the yacht having a close encounter with the container ship.......

(Please click on photo for larger image)

WAS YOUR JOURNEY REALLY NECESSARY ?..

To Southampton yesterday with my eldest son to see the Saints take on Barcelona`s second football club Espanyol, in the last pre-season `friendly.`

Now here in Kent, for 26 of the last 44 days, we have been pretty much gridlocked thanks to the ongoing Operation Stack, courtesy of striking French seamen and the occasional migrant.   The result has been that we have not dared venture onto the M20 and turn right or have any intention of heading eastwards towards the Kent coast, since the traffic snarl-ups on the alternative roads have been the stuff of nightmares.

So yesterday we left home and turned left, optimistically expecting a carefree, leisurely drive down to Southampton and it was OK until we got near Leatherhead on the M25, from where we crawled and crawled until, in a fit of desperation, I turned off the motorway at Wisley and went down the A31.  Good progress until we reached Guidford - another crawl - and yet another one at Farnham;  but we rejoined the M3 at Winchester and arrived at Southampton`s Town Quay just in time for a quick bite before the walk to St. Mary`s.

We thought the return journey might be better;  after all it`s a summer evening in early August and surely there won `t be that much traffic about.   But we hadn`t bargained for the `long term roadworks` on the M3 all the way from Basingstoke right up to the M25 and we hadn`t expected the logjams on the M25 itself.   So our day was spent mostly on the super highways of southern England, tiresome to the extent that I began to wonder if the journey had really been necessary.

But then again it`s more than a pleasure to go back to my boyhood roots, to retrace the steps of the walk from Town Quay to St. Mary`s Stadium and to experience once more the special feeling of being a lifelong Saints fan.   The game itself was inconsequential, sandwiched between the first and second legs of the Saints Europa League tie against Vitesse Arnhem and the start of the Premier League next weekend, but the highlight was seeing Jay Rodriguez` stunning 25-yard volley to level the scores at 1-1. Especially pleasing for him as he has been out of action for 14 months with a serious knee injury.

So, to answer my own question.  Was the journey really necessary?  Just about.  And I dread the day when I may not be able to make the journey again.

A HAPPY ENDING..

A poignant episode in Southampton earlier this week in marked contrast to the scene when Her Majesty The Queen bade a tearful farewell to her much loved royal yacht Britannia all those years ago.  As far as the royals go I confess to being pretty much of an agnostic and so when the decision was taken to decommission the royal yacht, I wasn`t that bothered about it.  

But looking back - and despite my misgivings about the royalty - I have to confess a considerable admiration for our 88 year old monarch.  I now think that that decision, taken by the newly formed Blair government following months of indecision by the outgoing Major one, was perhaps a sad affair, especially for the Queen, to whom Britannia meant so much.  In hindsight, it seemed cheap, mean spirited; a political rather than a financial decision.

But this week saw Her Majesty launch the latest and biggest in a long line of cruise ships - and she named it `Britannia.`  As she did so, I thought I caught a fleeting glimpse of regret pass across her regal features, almost as if all the happy memories she had of her time aboard the royal yacht were flooding back, along with her sadness at being forced to say goodbye to one of her favourite retreats from a hectic world.

But there was a happy ending.  Just being in Southampton again - the jewel of the south coast - along with the spring sunshine, seemed to lift her spirits and rightly so.  Oh to be in Southampton now that Spring is here, blessed as it is with the country`s most agreeable and progressive football club and, to mark the occasion of her visit the Queen was presented with an impressive gift as a token of mutual affection and admiration.  Her Majesty looks to be wearing it with pride and it certainly complements her chosen outfit for the day.

This rare and distinctive gift will surely be treasured in the royal household and it certainly brought a smile back to the royal countenance. It is so pleasing to report that  it all ended happily after all.

A POIGNANT FOOTNOTE..

To Southampton on Saturday to see the Saints unfathomably lose 0-1 to a poor Cardiff City side.   Before the game began, over 30,000 fans, along with the players and match officials, stood for a minute`s silence in memory of the 96 football fans who died in the Hillsborough tragedy 25 years ago.

On my walk from Town Quay to St. Mary`s Stadium, I passed a rather nondescript building that has been empty for some years.  It`s called Canute Chambers and once housed the offices of the White Star Shipping Company, which owned the fateful Titanic.   On the railings outside the building is this rather modest plaque:-

Whilst it is absolutely right for the football family to remember the tragic events at Hillsborough a quarter of a century ago, the good folk of Southampton will never forget the loss of 549 of their citizens 102 years ago tomorrow.

OVER TO YOU..

Well, you`ve got to admire their enthusiasm.   The good burghers of Plymouth in Devon are getting very worked up about the 400th anniversery of the sailing of the Mayflower to the brave New World in 1620.   The Lord Mayor, Councillor Tudor Evans, is writing to Barrack Obama  to invite the President of the United States, whoever that may be in 2020, to come over and join in Plymouth`s celebrations of this historic event.   He is also writing to David Cameron seeking support for the event, especially as Britain will be chairing the G8 summit that year.

All good stuff and I wish Plymouth well in this long term strategy they are putting in place. However, lest we forget, there are at least two others who can claim that the Mayflower actually sailed from there.   The first is none other than Rotherhithe in the London Borough of Southwark who have claimed their piece of history by sticking up this plaque:-

But arguably the most significant event in this historic saga took place in 15th August 1620 when the Mayflower set sail for real from Southampton`s West Quay.   It`s shown as almost an afterthought in the photo at the top, showing the plaque on part of Southampton Town Walls.

I`m beginning to suspect that, like the Eurovision Song Contest, there might be a reluctance on the part of Southampton City Council and the London Borough of Southwark to get too exercised about marking the occasion in 2020.   It`s a lot of work, a lot of angst and a lot of money so maybe they are shrugging their civic shoulders whilst being content to pass the burden over to that fine historic city in Glorious Devon.  After all, they were merely service stations along the way.   And we don`t want to start celebrating service stations, do we?

A WHIMSICAL INTERLUDE...

Yesterday`s reverie about the Itchen Bridge brought back memories for me of the river crossing before the bridge was built in 1977. 

This painting by LS Lowry - the original of which is in Southampton Art Gallery - is of the Floating Bridge, a vehicle and passenger chain ferry that crossed the Itchen River from Woolston on the east side of the river to Southampton.   The  Woolston Ferry, to give the Floating Bridge its proper name, originated in 1836 and was operated by Southampton City Council before it was supplanted by the new Itchen Bridge.   Ten days after the new bridge opened, the Floating Bridge sailed for the final time. Over the 141 years of its existence, thirteen different barges had sailed across the river. The final barge was numbered 14 to avoid any bad luck! One of the decommissioned ferries was turned into a nightclub!

I recall as a boy being taken by my parents for a ride on the Floating Bridge, just for the hell of it - it was something of a day out but also something of a rite of passage.   At the time, we lived at Hythe on the western shore of Southampton Water and we used to travel to Southampton using the Hythe Ferry, which still operates today.   There was then a walk along to the Floating Bridge `terminal` and we then had what would now be the dubious pleasure of riding across to Woolston, before heading back for the return journey.

Although the Itchen Bridge is a magnificent construction and has made life a lot easier for travellers between Woolston and Southampton than the Floating Bridge ever could, nevertheless there is still a lot of nostalgia for the old crossing and the Floating Bridge is remembered with great affection by those, like me, old enough to remember it.   Perhaps that affection is best reflected in the `Woolston Ferry Song,` recorded by Gutta Percha and the Balladeers.  Here it is - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul2DYr1iDlw

Told you it was whimsical, but I`m afraid that`s what my blog is all about really. 

LEMMINGS CLAIM BRAGGING RIGHTS..

This is the majestic Itchen Bridge, which carries traffic and pedestrians over the River Itchen in Southampton.   It has been a popular gathering place for Saints fans after years of  seemingly endless disappointments inflicted by their football team.  In the top left corner of the picture, you can just make out St. Mary`s Stadium and how portentous it was of the Samaritans to place their notice and emergency buttons at the highest point on the bridge.

Now, yesterday`s televised 4-4 draw away to Peterborough saw the usual extreme reactions by Saints fans to the fact that, having been two goals ahead twice in the game, it ended in a draw, thanks to a last gasp penalty awarded to the home side.  You see, the message boards of Southampton FC fans seem split between those, like me, who shrug our shoulders at what might have been, move on at the end of the day and wait to see what next week brings:  and those for whom a draw away to the league`s highest scorers seems like the end of the world.   They are the ones who, had the game been played at St. Mary`s and ended like this one 4-4, would have headed for the highest point of the Itchen Bridge.

In other news, Gillingham continued their unbeaten run with a reportedly dull 0-0 draw at home to Oxford but Charlton managed a 1-0 win away to the Glovers of Yeovil Town.   Not a lot of bragging rights to be had this week in Snopper Street, it seems, so in a fit of desperation I put forward the proposition that Southampton at least has a nice high bridge spanning a wide river where disenchanted fans can gather for their lemming-esque post match wakes, whereas as far as I am aware, there is a distinct shortage of high level bridges and wide expanses of water in both Charlton and Gillingham.

THE FIRST OF MANY?

A very good day yesterday. For the first time ever, I had the real pleasure of taking my grandaughter to St. Mary`s, this time to see the Saints take on the Latics of Oldham.   She has just embarked on a three-year history degree course  at Southampton University, so it follows that she should be exposed to the cultural life of the city and broaden her education still further by sampling the experience that is a Saints home game.  

This was, however, something of a gentle introduction, as the only tickets I could get where the two of us could sit together was in the KIngsland Stand.   You see, the Kingsland Stand is the quiet one, in direct contrast to the barage of constant noise from the Northam Stand or the sharp banter of the Itchen, where I normally sit.   But we had a good view and the game ended in a 2-1 victory for the Saints.

I`m not sure, however, whether the football was the highlight of Sarah`s day or whether the couple of visits we made to the Cowherds Inn (pictured) at the lower end of Southampton`s extensive Common were more to her taste.   After our long drive we were ready for a good feed and the Cowherds certainly provided it.  I`ll spare you the details, but let`s just say that any trace of anything remotely foreign was conspicuous by its absence.  Trouble was, we ate so well, there was no room left for pudding, so off we went on the longish wander down to the stadium, possibly harbouring thoughts of an after match return to finish the job.

And so it proved.  After the game, we walked back to the car, which we had left quite close to the Cowherds and a brief consultation concluded that we really should go back for more.   We had tea for two and our overdue puddings - butterscotch and toffee pudding and custard for Sarah, treacle tart and ice cream for me. Exquisito!! 

With Sarah safely returned to the University, I then had the long drive home, but it left me with a collection of very satisfying thoughts to reflect on my very good day - always a pleasure to visit St. Mary`s, especially after a home win;  an even greater pleasure to have my grandaughter`s company for a whole day; and the discovery that an excellent cuisine is just down the road from where she is staying, along with an extensive menu that we might just work our way through in the next three years.  Time will determine whether Sarah`s loyalty grows towards the Saints, but already she seems much taken by the Cowherds.  Me too.  http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/thecowherdssouthampton/

I NAME THIS SHIP...

As I got back to Southampton`s Town Quay on Saturday evening, where I had parked my car before seeing Saints 2-0 win over Tranmere Rovers, I took this photo of the new Queen Elizabeth as she was being lit up when the light began to fade over the Ocean Terminal.

Today, of course, the real Queen Elizabeth is performing the naming ceremony amid much pomp and circumstance coreographed by Cunard. They`re pulling out all the stops to ram home the fact that this is a British ship run by a British company operating out of Britain`s premier passenger port - the Coldstream Guards, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Lesley Garrett will all be taking part in this very British ceremony, never mind the fact that the ship was built in an Italian yard.

I just wonder how much influence Her Majesty might have had over the ship`s name, for it must be a bit difficult to "name this ship Queen Elizabeth. May God bless her and all who sail in her." Harping back to my harpie friend Ann Widdecombe, it occurred to me that, as the ship is more akin to a bulk carrier than a traditional cruising vessel - more block of flats than elegant ocean going edifice - maybe Her Majesty might be more at ease naming "this ship the Ann Widdecombe. May God bless her and all who sail in her." Bet she won`t though.

Azura from Town Quay, Southampton, originally uploaded by Hythe Eye.

MORE THAN THREE POINTS....

This beautiful photo was taken by someone who lives in my boyhood village of Hythe, on the western shore of Southampton Water. It captures exactly the scene I saw when I parked my car on Southampton`s Town Quay yesterday for my visit to see Saints play Charlton Athletic. What looks a bit like a block of flats emerging from the Ocean Terminal is, in fact, P & O`s new cruise liner, Azura. She arrived the other day following completion in an Italian yard and was awaiting her official naming, performed last evening by Dame Darcey Bussell, who cracked open a bottle of champers and doubtless wished God to bless her and all who danced in her.

The smaller craft in the foreground is the Red Jet passenger ferry from the Isle of Wight and, as well as seeing these two craft yesterday, we also saw the arrival of a huge container ship, at least as big as Azura, and also, perhaps anachronistically, a three masted sailing ship, as well as numerous other smaller vessels. It`s always a good place to be, Town Quay, with something always going on and plenty to see and we were blessed with a lovely warm Spring day to add to the enjoyment.

I say `we` because I had a passenger on my journey - a near neighbour who is father to one of Charlton`s players - and although he might have been disappointed with the result (Saints 1 - Charlton 0) I got the feeling that he enjoyed his day out and especially the sights to be seen from Town Quay. Quite often, a visit to Southampton to see the football is not just about three points and yesterday was certainly one of those days. I`m already looking forward to next time.

I SOMETIMES WONDER...

It was reported recently that two policemen from Southampton have become the country's first gay couple to father a child.

PC Ivan Sigston and special constable Steven Ponder have had a son named William thanks to Steven's sister Lorna Bradley, who acted as surrogate mother for the pair. It is believed the birth makes them the first gay couple in Britain to father a baby.

Mr Sigston, 48, provided the sperm but did not put himself down as the father, meaning he and Mr Ponder, 28, must formally and legally adopt William.

A spokesman for Surrogacy UK commented: "We wish this couple all the best, but under the law it is not a proper surrogacy arrangement. That involves the couple applying for a parental order within six months of the child's birth. At present, same-sex couples cannot apply for a parental order but have to go through the adoption process. As only Lorna's name is on the birth certificate, she is William's legal guardian."

It also emerged that the happy couple were, in fact, in `civil partnerships` with two other men and as I am not au fait with the law relating to getting out of - never mind getting into - civil partnerships, I can only assume that yet another legal complication has yet to be overcome in William`s fledgling life.

At the risk of compromising `human rights` in our modern day me-me society and being ever in fear of yet another knock on my door, I will simply say that I do sometimes wonder whether I am in the wrong world at the wrong time. So I will leave any comment to the Simpsons who, in the picture above, have probably asked the most important question in all of this.

A PAUSE ALONG THE WAY...

There`s a fairly nondescript building which I have passed countless times on my walk to and from Southampton Town Quay to St. Mary`s Stadium. The plaque on the wall outside says it all really. The White Star Shipping Company were the owners of the Titanic, of course, but what is particularly stark is the telling last line which confirms the loss of 549 Southampton people in the disaster.

The building is up for sale. I hope and believe the City Council will ensure that the history of the building will not be compromised by any plans new owners may have for it.

An odd feeling to pass this sobering spot after the euphoria experienced earlier at the Stadium yesterday. It reminded me that, after all, there are more important things than football.