Seems a negative kind of week, far too many rantings on here but here we go. What seemed like a simple request for my wife became ” not possible”. To open a new bank account. No need for boring details but something I thought simple and normal and needed doing today. The first bank Abbey National said not possible, but could be done midday thursday? ” Sorry have to work”. Next option midday friday “Sorry have to work”. So exit Abbey National and into The Halifax. Seem to recall they ” give something Xtra”. Certainly do, an extra time to contemplate, have a holiday or even spend all one’s money. The first opportunity to meet the wonderful person who could deal with the complexity of opening a bank account was in one weeks time. Bizarre.
So Lloyds bank to the rescue, yes possible and all done in minutes. I do wonder how exactly The Halifax and Abbey National expect to do business. Have a guess where our family will not go to?
A quite extraordinary story really.
A competition to see if anyone can correctly identify some of the more bizarre things that have ended up on the dining table over this year. There are five things to identify, of which one is a plant type.
By chance the second time in a few weeks that I have seen Ramsgate play. A decent enough game played in a low atmosphere ground with a crowd of 100 in attendance. The ground is essentially one sided now with the condemning of the main terrace stand. Walton have had a mixed start to the season under their new manager Steve Baker and on the evidence of yesterday they are a work in progress but going in the right direction. They played good football and generally were entertaining. Ramsgate played a lot more of the physical stuff and a little less of the football, but nevertheless a decent team. The game got off to a bizarre start as firstly kick off was delayed by 45 minutes due to a major M25 accident. In the second minute Ramsgate had their full-back carried off with what looked like ligament issues. In the fith minute Ramsgate had their number 11 sent off, maybe harshly. Not long after Ramsgate scored and although Walton chased the game it was not until the 80th minute that Walton equalised with a new header from their impressive number 9, Will Turl. He also had the opportunity to score again in the final minutes with an identical move and header but fell just short. Interesting aspects of the game? The referee made any number of errors, do not blame him for that, but why not at least consult with the linesman? The Ramsgate goalkeeper, although competent certainly had eaten some if not all of the pies. All in all end to end stuff and at this level a highly entertaining game.
Something for real football fans to read and mull over the implications for many non-league clubs
Walton V Ramsgate. Copyright Chris Bushe
Walton V Ramsgate. Copyright Chris Bushe
Disallowed Walton goal.Walton V Ramsgate. Copyright Chris Bushe
Walton V Ramsgate. Copyright Chris Bushe
Walton V Ramsgate. Copyright Chris Bushe
Walton V Ramsgate. Copyright Chris Bushe
Walton V Ramsgate. Copyright Chris Bushe
Walton V Ramsgate. Copyright Chris Bushe
Walton V Ramsgate. Copyright Chris Bushe
Walton V Ramsgate. Copyright Chris Bushe. Will Turl
Stompond lane has been the home of Walton and Hersham, who now play in the Ryman South division, ever since I began watching the club almost 50 years ago. There have been some famous moments. Walton have played FA Cup first round games here in front of thousands of spectators including against Exeter and Brighton, managed then by Brian Clough. Walton also won the Amateur cup in 1973. Things however have been declining since then almost consistently. Far from being one of the best non-league clubs they are now one of the smallest in crowd terms at their level and things may get even worse. The council plan to redevelop Stompond Lane and force Walton and Hersham to share with their neighbours, also in Ryman South, Walton Casuals. This plan has not been met with joy by either club however statements only a week ago suggest that this plan to redevelop Stompond Lane is becoming fairly final.
I do not know enough to really make an informed decision here however one can see a number of aspects that make some sense. The crowd base of both clubs is around 100 each and does this warrant two individual football grounds in Walton? The population of Walton, which is where the club is based, a few miles from Hersham, in 2011 was 24,137. Neither ground is perfect, although each has character and reasonable parking. Yesterday I visited to see Walton play Ramsgate. The crowd was 102. Down at Walton Casuals yesterday the crowd was 163 boosted somewhat by the good start Casuals have had to the season where they top the league. What is currently proposed is that the two clubs share Walton Casuals ground. What might equally be proposed is that these two clubs if this happens might be candidates to merge in the future. Should either of these things happen?
On my football grounds website I have many photographs of Stompond Lane and should the club move I shall add many more http://www.footballgroundz.co.uk
A good report on recent matters can also be found here
http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/new-plans-submitted-stompond-lane-5908373
A few here however just to introduce the novice to the ground that is and was Stompond Lane.
Stompond Lane. Copyright. Chris Bushe
Stompond Lane. Copyright. Chris Bushe
Stompond Lane. Copyright. Chris Bushe
An entertaining Ryman premier league game that saw Carshalton win their first home game of the season. the reality of the game was that in the first half Carshalton should have been at least 3-0 up and that in the second half Billericay should have scored. That they did not says much about the staunch defending from Carshalton combined with excellent usage of the substitutes. This is a young Carshalton team and they will improve. From the photos I leave it you to count the number of impressive kung-fu moves in the penalty area and in the whole series of photos there were plenty of shirt pulling episodes, all missed by the referee and his team. Carshalton is friendly place to watch football and the football played yesterday was actually exceptional at this standard by both teams. Good movement off the ball, intelligent running and some decent tacking too. Players who really impressed yesterday included Kieran Woodley, number 11 who scored a decent goal and tommy Bradford number 7 who never stopped running all afternoon. Maybe the oddest thing though is that man of the match would have to go to the Billericay goalkeeper Billy Lumley. Great saves throughout. Game stayed interesting right until the end when Ricky Sappleton was sent off for two yellow cards around 10 seconds before fulltime.
Painshill Park is a wonderful park in surrey near Cobham, with lakes and beautiful walks. It was built with a number of follies around 250 years ago created by Charles Hamilton between 1738-1773. One of the follies is the Gothic tower which is on the edge of the A3. If one were an estate agent one might describe it as a tower with good access to pylons. these are not really paintings but my attempt to create a photographic painting through a little manipulation here and there.
Painting of Gothic Tower at Painshill Park by chris Bushe
Painshill Park is one of the most beautiful parks in UK in cobham, Surrey. Each year they present a number of different shows, and this year Birds of Prey was the offering in August. Henfold birds of Prey provided the show and were excellent. An almost two hour demonstration of birds flying with enough information to entertain and educate the audience without boring or frightening them away. Great selection of birds. Here are a few including a nice shot of the typical mantling behaviour.
African Eagle Owl by Chris Bushe
African Eagle Owl by Chris Bushe
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Kestrel
Barn Owl
Amazingly visual birds. At a recent birds of Prey exhibition there were some excellent birds and he was one of them. Enjoy. Took quite a while to capture his sqwark!
African Eagle Owl by Chris Bushe
African Eagle Owl by Chris Bushe
African Eagle Owl by Chris Bushe
African Eagle Owl by Chris Bushe
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 