Vicar's Homepage

Champions Again!

Back again! I have been really busy at work. I am now working on a small team handling Tailormade enquiries. This is where the really complex itineraries go that require specialist knowledge together with the really wild and woolly wacky requests that we get saddled with. Its really fun, it’s a nice team, and a great privilege to work with them.  Office scandal? Not on this channel I’m afraid. 

Quite a dramatic couple of weeks really. Sadly there was a plane crash at the Shoreham Air Show, with a vintage second world war plane crashing during a dog fight with two spitfires, a little too realistic.

Party On!

Meanwhile I got very partied. I had received a surprise invitation to go to a party by a new friend, at a house just off the Lewes road. And what a party, loads of booze, a couple of really talented guitarists playing whilst everyone else grabbed a drum, bongos or anything else that made a noise. We kicked up a right racket until 3am, by which time it seemed silly to get a taxi home and I was very wasted anyway. I slipped into unconsciousness around 4. I came round on the sofa, where someone had wrapped me up in a duvet, at 11. There were bodies everywhere, a wide open front door, and a TV in the garden?? I thought my days of partying at that level had long gone.  

Sunday Lunch!

Found a nice place for lunch in Brighton! I took a friend to The Shakespears Head (Chatham Place) on Sunday. Superb Sunday roasts, Mine Roast Pork in a Lemony, Garlicy and Chilli gravy, how good! We stayed and chatted for three hours and left around 5PM. I am really enjoying having my Sundays back.  
Falmer

Some real and deep planning already going into our new stadium. I quote from the Argus (September 11th)"Seat prices for Falmer have yet to be made public but Perry revealed there will be different chair types in different areas of the ground. He said: "Top of the range seats may well have armrests. Within the economics of the stadium we want to make the seat width as comfortable as we can make it." Heavyweight Albion fan Roy Chuter, a Withdean regular and landlord of the Duke of Wellington in Shoreham, is relieved.Chuter, who is over 6ft and weighs more than 18st, said: "I actually spoke to Martin about this two or three years ago. Quite a lot of fans are my size or bigger, so you have got to cater for people."I am not so bothered about width as leg-room. Some grounds have got it absolutely right and others, like Withdean, haven't. It can be very uncomfortable.

Stairlift To Heaven

Pete

Love some of the stuff Pete Doherty comes up with, to quote from this weeks Q:

'As long as the person you want to kiss doesn't want to kiss you, then there's always room for another song.' The guy is a true genius.  

Argus reading blogsite

Had a strange email the other night from an investigative journalist from the Argus. 'I have been reading your blog and you seem to have connections with Sussex Falconry Centre'. Apparently a few people who have paid in advance for courses this winter, £110 a throw, are still awaiting refunds since the closure. I know the owner Barry quite well, and that’s not his way at all, I am assured the matter is in hand.  But what are the Argus doing reading my blog?

Not enough time to breath

I seem to have no time to myself on the new schedule. I am trying to let a lot of stuff I have been doing on my days off go. However I still end up juggling with the blog and other travel writings, fish keeping, my mandolin lessons, photography, whilst still trying to find time for the important people in my life.. 

Bluenose Disease

Apparently much worse to farmers than foot and mouth, the first case has just been diagnosed in Britain. I wonder if its related to Brownnose disease.

Sorry Chris, it was me!

Chris with Trophy! 

Sussex are Champions of England again, third time in five years. very odd as they had never won it prior to 2003 in 160 years of trying. I was present at the County Ground in a surreal atmosphere last night. Sussex had their game won and were waiting on a result from their rivals, which came through about 18.30. The club opened the ground and around 1000 people gathered on the pitch with radios, Lancs needed 35 runs to win off 5 overs when the final wicket fell. The place erupted. I managed to get a grab of the trophy when it came round having been flown in an hour later and sort of broke it, Chris Adams was not happy.

One more wicket! Come on Surrey!!! 

 
We are the Champions!

And England beat a small Asian snack at Rugby. How exciting. Yawn!!

• Posted by albionvicar on 24/09/2007.
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Falconry Closure

Falconry Closure

Sad to announce the closure of the Sussex Falconry Centre as the owner Barry is retiring, I attended our last days display though only as a customer as I was pretty choked. As it was I was not going to be able to help much this autumn, due to the new job commitments, but this was the first I had heard of total closure. We are now trying to find new homes for our birds.
A very sad day indeed.

Happier days! Owen with Adam (A Harris Hawk) 

Pub charity missing bottletops

Back home I was approached by an irate young lady outside the Star (my local.) She seemed to think I may have been responsible for  disappearance of her charity bottle top collection. Who me?

Pest Control

A tenant of mine has taken up a new job as a pest controller. This involves pigeon disposal, and hence he has been granted a shotgun licence. I have a copy on file (and so do the police). He had to pop around yesterday to deliver some stuff and arrives fully leathered up, with crash helmet on his bike before disappearing proudly announcing he was late for a job in South London. What type of pest control are we talking here, maybe we should be told!!!

The Sussex Food and Drink Festival

New Road, Brighton is covered with various very tasty catering stands from local producers this weekend, and a couple of the local brewers have set up home in the old Church that is situated on the corner of Ship Street and Duke Street. By the time a friend of mine and I had finished with the brewers the eating establishments were being taken down it being 18.30. Only in England, can you imagine anyone going to that sort of trouble and then closing up late afternoon in Germany, they would still be feeding the masses at 2am!  May go back and have another go today.

I did however run into an old friend I haven't seen for a couple of years which was nice. She is a healer and has some radical views on  Cancer. My friend leans over at the end and whispers into my ear, doesn't look much like a dealer. I will book her in for an hearing test.

Sussex Sport

I took a call Saturday, 'How did we get on yesterday'  Concern as to the Albion's progress from a girlee,  I must be spreading the gospel well.  On explaining we pummeled Millwall 3-0 and all was well with the world, there was a silence. I meant the Cricket. Oh well!!
But what is going on in our quiet little part of the world sports wise. Albion are off to a flyer, Sussex County Cricket are two wins away from retaining the Championship (the third in five years after 164 years of nothing). Lewes and Eastbourne Borough are first and second in the Conference South. Strange days indeed.

Its all go for Falmer, no objections have been received and Albion can begin the pre building preparations, with the site to be taken over towards the end of next summer. We should be kicking off in 2010. Curiously a new bus service has begun up to the university site (next door) and consequently we have a direct bus service trundling through the town with Falmer proudly announced on the front. Its just a shame it is bright yellow and called 'The Big Lemon'. Hmmm!  

• Posted by albionvicar on 09/09/2007.
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News from the Specialist

I have been back to see the specialist and now have a PSA of 1.38, again a slight rise on last time, but within the expected framework of results for this stage of post Radiotherapy. My main side effect is one of fatigue, which is prominent in the mornings. It is as if my body thinks it should be asleep, a side effect of seven years of night work. Good news is I don’t have to go back to the specialist for sixth months. It is beginning to feel as if this stage of the adventure is now well and truly over.

As one adventure ends another begins. Ros and I went for dinner at Worthing’s only Afro Caribbean restaurant last night. The food was very different, indeed very West African. The only other diner was from Nigeria and was a regular which says a lot. I had a goat stew, Ros beef with plantain. The owner talked a lot about Ghana and reckons it should be a nice easy introduction to the madness of her part of the continent. I think I will have to go back for more ‘Training’. It does not seem possible to think that my trip to Ghana is now at the end of next month.

I start my new position with the Company on Friday, as an introduction to everyone, and then up and away from Monday. Today however the cricket as Sussex continue to fight to regain the County Championship.

• Posted by albionvicar on 06/09/2007.
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The Mystery Duck!

Other Seafront Sightings!

I have no explanation for the large rubber duck that appeared outside the Sloop the other day.
Muggings are on the rise. The criminals are the seagulls and victims the tourists. Every lunchtime one or two fall victim to the muggers, and a fight develops leaving a mess pastry, suede, potatoes and feathers.

Ghost Hunting

Every year to amuse ourselves we always seek out a decent ghost hunt, and here was one for real. A tour of a very haunted tin mine. The night tour of Poldark mine is infamous, with strange happenings occurring on a regular basis. I didn't see anything myself, but such was the experience a couple of people abandoned the tour early on. It is apparently quite a thing to capture an orb on film. These are little balls of light that appear at random in a photo. Though I normally find messing with the ISA on an exposure has a similar effect. I will leave it to you to decide. 

The Child Stealers

A nice group of people in uniform have appeared on the beach and set a number of games for the kiddies, the main focus seems to be a Tug of War between the girls and boys. This of course culminated with a bible reading and much preaching. I wonder if my tribe had been younger if I would have let them go! Difficult call.

Diana Still Dead!

Friday was the tenth anniversary of the demise of the peoples princess, curiously we were in Cornwall at the time. Now 10 years on, with the Daily Diana (Express) still running it as front page news, no evidence of any crime has ever been discovered. Perhaps its time the nation moved on! Please!!!

A Close Miss

A sad indeed terrible event on the way home.  At Ros's  insistence we stopped  for lunch at Little Chef, just outside Bere Regis, when first one ambulance, then a fire engine, closely followed by a helicopter landing in the next field indicated something was very wrong ahead. Had we not turned off when we did we would have been witness to a fatal smash just 100 yards up the road. Sad to report a young family was involved. Our thoughts are with them.

• Posted by albionvicar on 05/09/2007.
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More from Cornwall

The Bottle Top Game

Every evening a gentleman arrives on the beach with a metal detector searching for booty, lost coins and such like. we think he is a little sad, so we thought we would have some fun this year. Thus Matt at the Star let me have a couple of dozen bottlecaps and we went to work. At Ros's suggestion each were labeled with a message, such as No 3 of a limited edition of 4600....Who the hell writes messages on bottletops.....This one was particularly nice......Bloody tourists etc. Our victim found a couple and shot off somewhere else in a huff. Another batch was planted just as we left. Ideas have been coming in for next time such as iron fileings etc.

The Book of Air and Shadows

A book has just passed over my head with Ros shouting 'Oh I give up' On P35 of the Michael Gruber classic I quote,
'What are you saving for'
'I want to go to Gelsenkirchen* in Germany and take an apprenticeship at the Buchbinderei Klein'
'Obviously, you've never heard of it.'

(Gelsenkirchen is the home town of my other main football love FC Schalke 04. I have been there many times.) 

The Porthminster Cafe

Decided to take Ros for a treat and headed to the excellent Porthminster Cafe at the far end of Porthminster beach for the evening meal. Owen was paid up and packed off to the cinema and we set about the very seafood influenced menu. Now this Restaurant is famous and had a whole TV series devoted to it last year. It was of course superb, Ros tackled the Turbot and Caviar whilst I did for the Sea bass and Crab cakes. We decided to dine Al Fresco. However by the time we took our table a cold wind had blown up and we finished wrapped in house blankets, pullies despite the heaters laid on. It was fun but we abandoned dessert in favour of choccies and coffee at home. We still did for over £100 however.

One Night Two Very Different Pubs!

Visited Penzance which has some very promising pubs, I didn't get passed the first, The Crown, a real beauty. A nice outside area, a main bar where food is served to candlelite tables, without being to intrusive of customers who just want to enjoy a drink. Finally out the back is a snug, again bathed in candlelight with sofas, and leather armchairs.

Flushed with success I decided to head home via Lelant and stop at the Watermill, well it looked promising from the roadside. Inside despite the charming garden with its own still working watermill, inside was a queue 12 deep of people ordering food, paying my card, and here was me just wanting a drink. To make matters worse each family had 3.2 kids, none of whom were capable of any suitable behaviour and were running riot through out the pub. It was a creche with Alcohol. Won't go back there again.

Oddly enough only the latter is in the Good Beer Guide

• Posted by albionvicar on 04/09/2007.
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The Might of Truro City

Back to Cornwall then with only ourselves and Owen this year as Adam and Ryan had other plans. We decided to drive down overnight to avoid the worst of the traffic, and thus it only took us 6 hours to complete the journey. Only problem is of course nothing is open at that time of night on West Country roads. After a small stop in Southampton the next thing we found was a MacDonald's just outside Hayle 30 minutes from our destination. This is fine until it comes to taking natures call. OK for blokes but more difficult for Ros. One minute she was in the bushes, and the next she disappeared. Headfirst down a ditch it transpired. A bruised, muddy and slightly embarrassed Ros appeared a minute later minus her glasses.

Thus we arrived on the beach, in glorious sunshine at around 8am. What to do until 3PM when we could pick up our keys? I was slow and it took me half an hour to realise it was still Saturday and there had to be a game somewhere. Thus back into Cornwall and onto Truro for Truro City v the might of Chard in the curiously named Toolstation Premier, thats the Western League to you and me.

Now Truro are, putting it mildly ambitious and are the first Cornish team to tackle the non league pyramid with the aim of getting to a national league, and ultimately into the Football League. Last year they won the FA Vase and this year are expected to win this league and challenge to enter the Southern League the next step upwards. The ground is a disappointment, with just a couple of small covered stands down one side, and the temporary seating installed from last years cup run remaining in place on the other side. Average gates at the moment are 400, twice the highest of their nearest competitors.

City went into a 4-0 lead in 17 minutes and we all anticipated a double figure whitewash. In the end City settled for 8 without having to work to hard. Clearly they have the potential to reach the top of the non league structure and there is talk of a bespoke new ground in five years to counter their push to the league.

I certainly wish them well, they were good hosts, and a friendly crowd. Truro itself is a pleasant City and well worth visiting on a west Country tour schedule. (Also the home of Skinners Beers, brewery open for visits.)

• Posted by albionvicar on 03/09/2007.
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London in the Rain

Back to the Withdean, though in good spirits as Falmer Parish Council have announced they are no longer taking legal advice and have accepted the decision to allow Albion to proceed with Falmer, though bitterly. We hope to start work on the site next autumn. We beat Northampton 2-1, playing a poor first half but counteracting with a spirited second half performance, we saw some guts from the team and secured our first Withdean win since February.

Off to Cornwall next week for the family holiday with just my youngest in tow. The other boys are staying at home and doing there own thing. It will feel very different this time around.

• Posted by albionvicar on 23/08/2007.
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Who ate all the grapes!

Football is back, and for our early season treat it was Crewe away yesterday, a team who have become a bit of a bogey team for us. Usual stuff then, totally dominated the game and lost 2-1 to three gloriously odd refereeing decisions, which furthers enhances my belief that a lot of games are, shall we say, influenced externally for the betting syndicates.

Add an ever worsening rail service, the closure of the Victoria Line on a peak summer Saturday; it really was business as usual. To cap it all cheap ticket quotas meant I couldn’t leave Crewe until 7PM ah bliss.

As I am watching the weight at the moment, not doing much about it I will admit. But I did substitute the half time balti pie, with a bunch of grapes, so I am making some effort. I had not seen most of the lads over the summer, and again our numbers have dropped by one with the loss of Really Old Dave with a heart attack, whilst playing cricket a couple of weeks ago. So there is some raw emotion out there at the moment, and they all wanted progress reports on my cancer situation. Thus leading to on three occasions a big bear hug and `I love you man` aah sweet!

• Posted by albionvicar on 12/08/2007.
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An Unexpected Party

My return to work has proved surprising and eventful. Although I am still working 8 hours of my 12 hour shift, I have been feeling confident though tired. Eight hours is enough at the moment. One or two treats have however fallen my way in that two weeks ago we went to visit a country house for an overnight team building exercise.

Very nice it was too, and in the afternoon we ended up fly fishing, which was a first. The morning, well memory remains a little scattered after the previous night’s team building event, a whisky testing session I ask you. Me! Well really.

The pace picked up last week when I was asked to go to New York for a suppliers meeting, (A fam trip in travel speak.) We were flown out with Virgin Atlantic in Upper Class which was simply superb. From the moment you check in you are invited to their lounge which contains a complimentary gourmet restaurant, hair dressers, masseurs, a hot tub, a full cocktail bar, and plenty of space. It gets even better on the flight with a 6ft2 seat which converts into a bed, interactive entertainment, food served at your request and best of all a stand up bar. The staff treated us like VIP`s (On a similar trip with BA we were ignored and treated like a bunch of freeloaders.)

Our Hotel was situated at the bottom of Central park on 59th, the (Jumeirah owned since 2006) Essex House. It was a very comfortable stay in a very high tech room. (Lights come on automatically when you get out of bed in the night.) The hotel built in 1931 is one of 200 in the portfolio of the National Trust Historic Hotels of America and is in an ongoing redevelopment to restore it to its former glory. It is also known for its original artworks of the park and surrounding area.

The weather on our first day was unbearably hot and humid, so in my spare time I retreated to meet up with a friend in her nicely air conditioned flat. we were joined there by Alex and Felice two of my dearest freinds who live over in Brooklyn.

Our group on this trip bonded well, Saturday night was taken up with a dinner at the China Grill and a visit to Tao nightclub. I was responsible for our late arrival by taking a solo decision to stay on for dessert, whilst the girls couldn`t wait to get to the club. So to placate all I ordered the chocolate dessert selection, and sat and watched in amusement when the girls, ploughed in all at once. I hatched an early escape from Tao, not being a nightclub person, with an idea of hitting a few favourite ale bars in the City, but with the lovely Claire (from Virgin) and Michael from our office in tow we elected for a candlelite cocktail bar instead, a very chilled venue to make up for the overcrowded club.

On the afternoon of our departure the weather broke and I conducted a tour of my favourite part of the City, The East Village with Michael and Sammy as the rain poured down and we sheltered in a cafe before heading to explore Little Italy.    

It was a most unexpected and fantastic weekend away, and I felt very privileged to have been selected, after having just come back from 4 months sick. It made me feel a very valued member of staff. 

• Posted by albionvicar on 04/08/2007.
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Falmer within touching distance!

I am pleased to hear The Albion, once again, have been granted permission to develop their ambitious plans for the new stadium at Falmer. Today Lewes District Council, who have done everything imaginable to thwart the plan, have conceeded deafeat and confirmed that they will not object to the resubmitted plans. Other interested parties have until early September to dream up another logicless delay. The delays have held up redevelopment for eight years. It is now hoped that we will be at our new ground by 2010-11 season.

Anyone else noticed the similarity in attitude between the defenders of Hot Fuzzs` imaginary village of Sandford and that of Falmer Parish Council. The pub name gives it away. SWAN!! 

As well as Falmer District Council, The Society of Sussex Downsmen are also considering their legal position and continue to refer to the area as virgin downland. Clearly never driven past it then.

• Posted by albionvicar on 01/08/2007.
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