Badgers Stop Play
This is a sadder story about badgers ruining a cricket ground. Here’s the first few paragraphs.
Badgers have stopped play at one of England’s oldest cricket clubs after they tore huge chunks out of the pitch.
The damage has forced Rickmansworth Cricket Club, in Hertfordshire, to postpone all of its games in April and May as staff try to repair the ground.
It is believed the badgers were attracted by bugs thriving in the damp pitch, with the club unable to treat the ground due to the cold weather.
Badgers are becoming a serious pest in many places, due to the fact that they are protected and have no natural predator. So consequently, there is getting to be a population, that doesn’t have the space and sufficient food. It’s the same with deer in some places, but at least they are good to eat.
We must get sensible about our wildlife. Foxes, badgers, grey squirrels and deer seem to get all the protection they need to prosper from well-meaning town dwellers, but that wonderful queen of the countryside; the brown hare, and the beautiful red squirrel, keep struggling.
Cricket At The Olympic Stadium
It was reported on the BBC London News last night, that Essex County Cricket Club are negotiating to play their Twenty20 games at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford in East London.
This is a brilliant idea, as if they get the marketing and ticketing right, I’m sure that they’ll get a whole load of new people to go to the cricket.
Remember, as we saw in New Zealand recently, you can play the Twenty20 version of the game in a rugby or football stadium with a drop-in wicket.
Imagine too, England against Australia at Twenty20 with 70,000 supporters looking on. Now that will be some game!
It will happen, if for no other reason, there is no other way in the UK, to get that number of people to one of the greatest and longest rivalries in world sport.
A Beagle Comes To Hoxton
One of my Internet trawls found this restaurant, called Beagle, that is opening in Hoxton. I paid it a visit today.
It is conveniently situated underneath the railway arches of the East London line at Hoxton station, just behind the Geffrye Museum.
One of the staff said they would be doing gluten-free food, so I think I’ll give it a try after it opens on Monday the eighth and when I return from my travels to Budapest.
The designers seem to have done a good job.
I wonder if it will set a precedent for stylish restaurants in stations on the London Overground!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to eat and drink your way in a complete circle around London!
Has This Starbucks Died?
I saw this Srarbucks from a 38 bus yesterday in Theobalds Road.
Has This Starbucks Died?
It looks a bit derelict. Is it a casualty of the company’s tax planning strategy?
What Would Happen If We Banned Steeplechasing?
Many believe that the Grand national and all steeplechasing should be banned.
I don’t!
But what would happen if we did ban it?
All our major races would probably move to Ireland or if the Scottish government decided not to ban it, to Scotland.
They would be overjoyed and some places in the UK, like Liverpool and Cheltenham, would lose quite a few jobs and lots of income.
But life in this country would lose one of its great spectacles. Soon horse racing would be reduced to a shadow of its former self, with probably only all-weather racing on the flat surviving.
I do think sometimes, that the various antis in all sorts of areas, have one aim in their mind; to take all the fun out of our lives.
If a man has never made love to a woman, who’s wearing nothing but a fur coat, he’s never lived! Incidentally, it wasn’t C’s coat either and it was at a two hour break in proceedings in a Catholic wedding.
Leopards Don’t Change Their Spots
I’ve just had some spam, trying to get me to sign up to Coral Bookmakers.
As I have a betting shop near me and an on-line account, I don’t need another.
So who is the Chief Executive of Coral? None other than Andy Hornby, who is one of the HBOS Three.
Some people never learn, how to run a business!
Dalston Junction To Gatwick Airport
Since it opened, I’ve usually taken the Overground to Clapham Junction station and changed for Gatwick Airport there.
This morning, for my flight out on Monday to Budapest, I looked up to see what the standard train information site said. They recommended changing at Clapham Junction station.
I’ve just bought a ticket from Clapham Junction to Gatwick Airport on-line. No problem there, but why can’t I pick it up at Dalston Junction station?
Should We Buy Tea Shares?
The Times today makes a joke on the business pages about builders in wet February and freezing March, sitting around in huts drinking tea.
I must admit my consumption, has been very high in recent months.
So should we put our money where our mouth sups and invest in tea shares?
Labour Can’t Win If It’s On Mick Philpott’s Side
This is the headline on an opinion in The Times.
It’s full of good facts and is a must read.
The Anonymous Widower 