I didn't sleep too well last night, mainly because it was quite warm and Sara, uncharacteristically, couldn't get to sleep herself. I woke a few times and went to get a drink. I was also conscious of the need to get up in good time today and Tom and I needed to get away early to go to Nottingham to watch Saints' last Championship game against Nottingham Forest. Tom and I left at around 7.25 a.m. and had such a clear journey up that we arrived in Nottingham at around 10.15 a.m. - some three hours before kick-off! We managed to park quite close to the ground along the River Trent embankment on the Nottingham side. Forest's ground (the City Ground) is actually situated on the south side of the river in contrast to Notts County's ground (Meadow Lane) which is in the city rather than the county. Confused? West Bridgford is also home to Trent Bridge Cricket Ground of Nottinghamshire County Cricket and Test fame. Today there was also a match being held there in the Friends Provident Trophy - Nottinghamshire against Ireland. We heard afterwards that Nottinghamshire had a convincing win. Tom and I visited a small outdoor cafe by the river where I had a cappuccino and Tom had a lemonade. We watched a number of groups undertaking rowing practice. It was quite an idyllic setting with the backdrop of Notts. County Hall on the opposite bank. We also visited a most interesting Victorian public convenience with black marble furniture. It was very much an example of a bygone age and should be preserved ("reserved" as Tom told Sara when we got home.) We chatted to some Forest and Saints fans before crossing over Trent Bridge and getting an early lunch at MacDonald's along Radcliffe Road. We also visited the Forest Store and got Mary a lovely little teddy bear and I bought a small book written by Brian Clough's gardener called Tales from Cloughie's Garden. It is a personal insight into this complex man from the point of view of "off duty" remarks made by him to his gardener at home. The attendance today was 29,008 - a record for this season at the City Ground. There was a definite carnival atmosphere and with Saints fans realising that this could be there last ever league game the songs and chants spanned the ages with songs about Le Tissier, Marian Pahars, and other"greats" as well as all the usual songs about Pompey and so on. A new chat was "We're going on a League One tour next season". Mark Wotte brought the team over to the fans and applauded us as we returned the favour. Saints started well - the fans encouraging them well and we went 1-0 up by half time. We continued to hold on to our lead until 73 minutes when we let in a soft equaliser and two further Forest goals followed. It was all good natured and the fans accepted that the Saints simply aren't a good enough team to stay in the Championship. The Forest fans applauded us at the end for our loyalty and we applauded them. Although it is sad that Saints will be in League One next season our main worry is that the club will survive to play there. Norwich were also relegated with us this afternoon and Birmingham promoted with Wolves. Preston NE managed to displace Cardiff in the play-offs by just one more goal. We left Nottingham at around 3.30 p.m. and arrived home at 6.45 p.m. - a little longer than going but we did return via the M42 and M40 as opposed to driving down the M1 to Northampton. Once home, Sara told me all the news from church and that she had spoken to Nils about her becoming an LPA. Nils seemed to be pleased about that. Molly stayed for dinner with us (cottage pie) and afterwards I phoned Mum. She had been out to lunch with her friend Freda at the Coach House, a pub/restaurant off North Sea Lane, Humberston. She seemed well and interested in all our news. I watched the last piece of Tuesday's Auf Wiedersehen Pet which I had tried to see the other evening. Sara watched "Desperate Housewives"
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Defeat in the land of Robin Hood
I didn't sleep too well last night, mainly because it was quite warm and Sara, uncharacteristically, couldn't get to sleep herself. I woke a few times and went to get a drink. I was also conscious of the need to get up in good time today and Tom and I needed to get away early to go to Nottingham to watch Saints' last Championship game against Nottingham Forest. Tom and I left at around 7.25 a.m. and had such a clear journey up that we arrived in Nottingham at around 10.15 a.m. - some three hours before kick-off! We managed to park quite close to the ground along the River Trent embankment on the Nottingham side. Forest's ground (the City Ground) is actually situated on the south side of the river in contrast to Notts County's ground (Meadow Lane) which is in the city rather than the county. Confused? West Bridgford is also home to Trent Bridge Cricket Ground of Nottinghamshire County Cricket and Test fame. Today there was also a match being held there in the Friends Provident Trophy - Nottinghamshire against Ireland. We heard afterwards that Nottinghamshire had a convincing win. Tom and I visited a small outdoor cafe by the river where I had a cappuccino and Tom had a lemonade. We watched a number of groups undertaking rowing practice. It was quite an idyllic setting with the backdrop of Notts. County Hall on the opposite bank. We also visited a most interesting Victorian public convenience with black marble furniture. It was very much an example of a bygone age and should be preserved ("reserved" as Tom told Sara when we got home.) We chatted to some Forest and Saints fans before crossing over Trent Bridge and getting an early lunch at MacDonald's along Radcliffe Road. We also visited the Forest Store and got Mary a lovely little teddy bear and I bought a small book written by Brian Clough's gardener called Tales from Cloughie's Garden. It is a personal insight into this complex man from the point of view of "off duty" remarks made by him to his gardener at home. The attendance today was 29,008 - a record for this season at the City Ground. There was a definite carnival atmosphere and with Saints fans realising that this could be there last ever league game the songs and chants spanned the ages with songs about Le Tissier, Marian Pahars, and other"greats" as well as all the usual songs about Pompey and so on. A new chat was "We're going on a League One tour next season". Mark Wotte brought the team over to the fans and applauded us as we returned the favour. Saints started well - the fans encouraging them well and we went 1-0 up by half time. We continued to hold on to our lead until 73 minutes when we let in a soft equaliser and two further Forest goals followed. It was all good natured and the fans accepted that the Saints simply aren't a good enough team to stay in the Championship. The Forest fans applauded us at the end for our loyalty and we applauded them. Although it is sad that Saints will be in League One next season our main worry is that the club will survive to play there. Norwich were also relegated with us this afternoon and Birmingham promoted with Wolves. Preston NE managed to displace Cardiff in the play-offs by just one more goal. We left Nottingham at around 3.30 p.m. and arrived home at 6.45 p.m. - a little longer than going but we did return via the M42 and M40 as opposed to driving down the M1 to Northampton. Once home, Sara told me all the news from church and that she had spoken to Nils about her becoming an LPA. Nils seemed to be pleased about that. Molly stayed for dinner with us (cottage pie) and afterwards I phoned Mum. She had been out to lunch with her friend Freda at the Coach House, a pub/restaurant off North Sea Lane, Humberston. She seemed well and interested in all our news. I watched the last piece of Tuesday's Auf Wiedersehen Pet which I had tried to see the other evening. Sara watched "Desperate Housewives"
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