English Wimps
So the English badminton team has pulled out of the World Championships in India.
The Scots and Welsh have stayed and the head of Scottish Badminton has been quoted as England have perhaps overreacted.
In my view they have.
A few months ago and a few weeks before the attack in Mumbai, I was in the Taj Mahal Hotel. Do the attacks mean I won’t go back to India again. Of course not!
I just worry for all those wonderful people in that hotel, whose lives will never be the same again. And how many of them died in the attack?
Remember if you want to be safe in a country like India, you are better off mixing it with the local people. They don’t want trouble and will make sure you don’t get it.
A Disagreeable Garage
When I was going into Coventry, I needed some fuel and to go to the toilet. So I pulled into a BP garage on the Hinckley Road as I drove into Coventry and filled up. I can’t be sure of the name, but it was the first as you enter the city.
But the toilet was for staff only.
And they didn’t accept my voucher for the Sunday Times.
I thought they were called service stations!
Coventry 2 – Ipswich 1
Rather a disappointment! But we’re only three points behind the leaders.
Ricoh Arena
The Ricoh Arena is a good modern stadium and I’ve never found that I’ve had difficulty parking at the stadium. Although £10 might be thought a bit steep, but at least you can also get away quickly. It took just ninety minutes from starting the car to do the hundred miles to home.
Tribute to Bobby Robson
This shows the inside of the stadium, whilst the tribute to Bobby Robson was taking place. Note I was almost at the back of the stand at one end and everything was in view. But then so it is at Wembley, Leicester, Southampton and Derby. We really have got stadium building right in the last few years.
But the football wasn’t that good. Or at least for Ipswich.
Diphthongs
My father was a printer and he was a great believer in dipthongs. In letterpress type they are actually double characters, so they have a nice heavy feel.
So in the last post on Coventry Cathedral, I have spelt mediaeval with an extra “a”.
The Destroyed and the New
I went to the football at Coventry today and as I was a bit early, I went into the city centre to see the two cathedrals; the destroyed mediaeval one and the new building created in the late 1950s to replace it.
The Two Cathedrals
The new one was designed by Basil Spence and is unusual in that it is aligned north and south, so that it is at right-angles to the old cathedral.
The New Coventry Cathedral
The sculpture is by Sir Jacob Epstein and portrays St. Michael’s victory over the devil.
Inside the Old Coventry Cathedral
The tower still functions as a bell tower, but only it and the walls remain after bombing of the 14th November, 1940. One notice on the walls said that one of the reasons it all came down, was that the heat was so intense the iron supports put in to make it stronger, twisted and destroyed the roof. So perhaps ancient builders did know a lot more than we give them credit for.
Ecce Homo - Sir Jacob Epstein
This is another piece of sculture by Sir Jacob Epstein. It is called Ecce Homo.
Reconciliation - Josefina de Vasconcellos
This is another of several pieces of sculture in the nave of the old cathedral. One poingnent piece was made by an 18 year old schoolbay, who lost his life in the war.
Alain John's Statue of Christ
The inscription under the statue reads.
This is a second casting, in concrete of a statue at Blundell’s School in Devon. It was created by an 18 year old pupil, Alain John. The Headmaster, Neville Corton, later became Bishop of Coventry and on the death of Alain John, an RAF navigator, in 1943 at the age of 23, the statue was recast for Coventry as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the war.
The Window Between the Two Cathedrals
As it was Sunday, I didn’t venture into the new cathedral, but I did take this shot of the window that effectively separates the new from the destroyed.
Let’s hope we do not see such destruction again. But I suspect we will!
First Real Football of the Season
Off to real tennis at Cambridge and then to Coventry to see Ipswich play. The Ricoh stadium at Coventry is one of the new grounds and as they go it’s not too bad. Parking is good if I remember it.
At least we’re only three points off the top of the table as of this morning.
I suppose we only have to lose by less than six goals to do better than Norwich!
The Anonymous Widower 