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A Great Naval Victory at Twickenham
My alarm went off at 6 a.m. to remind me that Klynn, Richard and I were catching the 8.57 a.m. train for Twickenham from Grateley and they were picking me up at 8.15 a.m. I showered and made tea for Sara and me. I also wrote up yesterday’s blog and posted it on the Internet. Klynn and Richard arrived on the dot and we drove to Grateley. Whilst waiting for the train (we arrived in very good time) Richard produced two enormous sausage baguettes for each of us – one of which we ate in the car and the other later on the train. The train, when it arrived, already had a number of people on board clearly also going to the Army v Navy rugby match at Twickenham. We left the hoards at Basingstoke and journeyed up to Twickenham via Reading – a good move as most people were going to be changing at Clapham Junction. In my experience, it is much quicker and less crowded to make changes at Basingstoke and Reading. All our trains were on time and we arrived at Twickenham Station, as scheduled, at 11.10 a.m. We met up with my Masonic friend Rod E and his two children, daughter Georgina and son Ben, outside the main west entrance to the stadium just after 11.30 a.m. as arranged. I was amazed at just how much Georgina looked like Rod. All six of us then went to the Army’s Logistics Corp. Tent for a beer or two (at £4 per pint we were certainly not going to get drunk!). In the tent we met our host, Lee, who was with members of his family and former Army colleagues. We tended to split into two groups – the six of us in one and Lee and his family/Army colleagues, in the other. We went into the stadium at around 1.15 p.m. and watched the last twenty minutes or so of the Combined Services U23s v. Oxbridge U23s. Oxbridge won convincingly by, I think, 50-24. After the presentations the Army and Navy teams came on to train and I managed to get a photo of the Navy squad. We were entertained by the Band of the Duke of York’s Military School and the pop opera singing group Blake who sang I vow to Thee My Country and Jerusalem. They also led us in the National Anthem. Traditionally, the Army always beat the Navy (and have certainly done so each year since 2001) but I had told Lee that I would be supporting the Navy as my grandfather was in the RNR and I am a maritime historian. He told me not to get too optimistic and that the Army would sink the Navy! His prediction looked accurate at half time when the Navy were losing 15-3. He said the final score would probably be something like 30-3. In the second half the Navy put on pressure and it was an incredibly exciting 40 minutes when with just three minutes to go the score line had changed to Army 19 v Navy 16. With a try and penalty from the Navy and a further penalty for the Army the final score was Army 22 v Navy 24! Yessss! The Navy had gone against the normal trend with an amazing victory. I bought a White Ensign outside the stadium (I’ve been meaning to get one for some time) and will hoist it tomorrow. The second half was eventful for the number of streakers who suddenly appeared on and off the pitch. One guy ran around the top tier of seating in nothing but his orange underpants which he later also removed to cries of Off! Off! Off! From the 56,000 spectactors for whom the rugby was now simply a side show. A female streaker ran across the pitch bare chested (Tom now wants to come next year!) and Zorro suddenly appeared on the pitch too. The atmosphere was fantastic – good humour all around with nobody really taking the rugby all that seriously. We had another expensive beer in the tent afterwards and made our way back to Grateley the way we had come – managing to get seats all the way back. We ended a really wonderful day by having fish and chips in the Lord Nelson over a much more modestly priced pint of Wadsworth 6X (although he could be a little more generous with his chips!). As for the football, Southampton lost today at Gillingham 2-1 but Grimsby beat Barnet 2-0 at Blundell Park thereby ensuring that their fight to stay in league football will run to the last day of the season. A win next Saturday at Burton Albion and a loss or draw only by Barnet against high-flying Rochdale will ensure Grimsby Town’s survival in the League. Come on you Mariners – you can do it!
My alarm went off at 6 a.m. to remind me that Klynn, Richard and I were catching the 8.57 a.m. train for Twickenham from Grateley and they were picking me up at 8.15 a.m. I showered and made tea for Sara and me. I also wrote up yesterday’s blog and posted it on the Internet. Klynn and Richard arrived on the dot and we drove to Grateley. Whilst waiting for the train (we arrived in very good time) Richard produced two enormous sausage baguettes for each of us – one of which we ate in the car and the other later on the train. The train, when it arrived, already had a number of people on board clearly also going to the Army v Navy rugby match at Twickenham. We left the hoards at Basingstoke and journeyed up to Twickenham via Reading – a good move as most people were going to be changing at Clapham Junction. In my experience, it is much quicker and less crowded to make changes at Basingstoke and Reading. All our trains were on time and we arrived at Twickenham Station, as scheduled, at 11.10 a.m. We met up with my Masonic friend Rod E and his two children, daughter Georgina and son Ben, outside the main west entrance to the stadium just after 11.30 a.m. as arranged. I was amazed at just how much Georgina looked like Rod. All six of us then went to the Army’s Logistics Corp. Tent for a beer or two (at £4 per pint we were certainly not going to get drunk!). In the tent we met our host, Lee, who was with members of his family and former Army colleagues. We tended to split into two groups – the six of us in one and Lee and his family/Army colleagues, in the other. We went into the stadium at around 1.15 p.m. and watched the last twenty minutes or so of the Combined Services U23s v. Oxbridge U23s. Oxbridge won convincingly by, I think, 50-24. After the presentations the Army and Navy teams came on to train and I managed to get a photo of the Navy squad. We were entertained by the Band of the Duke of York’s Military School and the pop opera singing group Blake who sang I vow to Thee My Country and Jerusalem. They also led us in the National Anthem. Traditionally, the Army always beat the Navy (and have certainly done so each year since 2001) but I had told Lee that I would be supporting the Navy as my grandfather was in the RNR and I am a maritime historian. He told me not to get too optimistic and that the Army would sink the Navy! His prediction looked accurate at half time when the Navy were losing 15-3. He said the final score would probably be something like 30-3. In the second half the Navy put on pressure and it was an incredibly exciting 40 minutes when with just three minutes to go the score line had changed to Army 19 v Navy 16. With a try and penalty from the Navy and a further penalty for the Army the final score was Army 22 v Navy 24! Yessss! The Navy had gone against the normal trend with an amazing victory. I bought a White Ensign outside the stadium (I’ve been meaning to get one for some time) and will hoist it tomorrow. The second half was eventful for the number of streakers who suddenly appeared on and off the pitch. One guy ran around the top tier of seating in nothing but his orange underpants which he later also removed to cries of Off! Off! Off! From the 56,000 spectactors for whom the rugby was now simply a side show. A female streaker ran across the pitch bare chested (Tom now wants to come next year!) and Zorro suddenly appeared on the pitch too. The atmosphere was fantastic – good humour all around with nobody really taking the rugby all that seriously. We had another expensive beer in the tent afterwards and made our way back to Grateley the way we had come – managing to get seats all the way back. We ended a really wonderful day by having fish and chips in the Lord Nelson over a much more modestly priced pint of Wadsworth 6X (although he could be a little more generous with his chips!). As for the football, Southampton lost today at Gillingham 2-1 but Grimsby beat Barnet 2-0 at Blundell Park thereby ensuring that their fight to stay in league football will run to the last day of the season. A win next Saturday at Burton Albion and a loss or draw only by Barnet against high-flying Rochdale will ensure Grimsby Town’s survival in the League. Come on you Mariners – you can do it!
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