All posts by Neil
Say What You See
Party Goals
The year seems to be flying by the summer appears to have come and gone in a flash there is now a definite chill in the air. The other weekend Lynda and I went to Northampton to celebrate a friend’s 60th Birthday, something which we did in style as it turned out. I will be honest with you nowadays a great night out for me is one where you have an amazing time but you are still in bed by midnight. This is not exactly how this tripped worked out.
We headed there after I had got home from work on the Friday. It was about nine when we checked into our hotel and by half past we were in their local pub having a drink with the birthday boy, his girlfriend and some other mates. It was a great night just chatting and laughing. We stayed there until closing time, then went back to their house for a few more drinks and got to sleep at 3am in the end.
The next day we had to be up reasonably early as a big group of us was going to see the rugby team that the couple we knew supported. We met up at midday and found ourselves in a pub just down the road from the stadium an hour before kick off. We went to see Northampton Saints play London Irish in the Premiership which is the main rugby union division in the United Kingdom. It was the first time that I had been to their ground and to a top flight professional game. The atmosphere was great and there were plenty of places to get drinks and food, sadly though I could not eat any of it.
The home team won and I did enjoy it although a lot of the time I was not totally sure what was going on. I mean I did know when a try had been scored but that was about it. I had no idea that you were meant to stay silent whenever there was a kick to be taken. That does not happen at the football when there is a penalty kick in fact normally the crowd make more noise at that point. The first half lasted an hour as unfortunately one of the London Irish players suffered a nasty injury after being knocked out.
After the rugby we went back to the hotel and because I had not eaten at the game or was not totally sure if there would be gluten free food at the party we were going to later. I ordered a takeaway from Pizza Express. I ate that while I was watching the first half of Tottenham against Leicester on my phone. At halftime we walked down to the local pub again to meet everybody else and I watched the second half of the game. Obviously I was very happy with the 6-2 win and it was brilliant to see Son get a hat-trick. A nice way to sign off before the international break. We got a minibus from the pub to the party venue which was about a fifteen minute drive.
We arrived and nobody had any idea where the function room was so we ended up going in the furthest door away and then twenty of us had to all trudge through the restaurant and bar there to get to the private room. It was a nice little set up with its own bar, toilets and outside area away from everybody else. We saw a few people we knew so had a good chat to them. There was a barbecue which did have some chicken and salad that I could have. There was also a band who were great. The played a nice mix of cover versions and even got me up on the dance floor a few times. That is quite a rare occurrence nowadays.
The party finished at midnight then we got the minibus back to our friends’ house and just continued the celebrations there. We got to bed around 4am this time. This weekend away did prove to me that I could still be rock and roll when I needed to be but it is a lot harder doing it than it used to me. We headed back to Lynda’s house on the Sunday afternoon after stopping in to see our friends’ for a cup of tea and a quick debrief of the previous night.
As it was now a Bank Holiday Weekend we decided to go to Prezzo for a meal and to raise a glass or two for Queen Elizabeth the Second the day before her funeral. I enjoyed a three course gluten free meal there with some Prosecco. That just happened to come free with the food thanks to an offer they were running. I mean we could have stayed in after a busy weekend, but I am glad we went out. We did however have a fairly early night in the end to try to catch up on some sleep and because I did want to watch all of the funeral proceedings the next day. I am a royalist and support the whole family but the Queen was always somebody I held in very high regard.
I started watching the television coverage just after nine in the morning. The first journey for the coffin was a relatively short one but it was still a very impressive spectacle as Queen Elizabeth The Second was taken to Westminster Abbey. The building in which her Coronation had taken place nearly seventy years earlier. I thought the ceremony was lovely and I was holding myself together well until I noticed Prince Edward crying and then that set me off.
Once I had recovered my composure I watched almost transfixed as the procession made its way gracefully to the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park. It was so well marshalled and organised but then you would not expect anything less from the armed forces. Everyone who took park in that parade was immaculate. It was a fitting send off from the capital for our longest reigning monarch.
I stayed with the coverage as she was transported by road to her final resting place at Windsor Castle. As she arrived there it was beautiful to see a couple of her Corgi’s and her favourite riding pony on the grass to welcome her “home”. The committal service was very emotional particularly at the end when they removed the Jewell’s and the Crown, then the coffin started to disappear into the vault below.
It is still going to be odd not seeing her or hearing from her ever again. But I do take comfort from her being buried with her parents and her beloved Philip in the King George V chapel. I did not realise that there are quite a few royals laid to rest there at Windsor Castle including Henry VIII.
Last Sunday Lynda and I went to see a play that had been on our radar for a while. First of course we went for a meal at Wahaca. They are really good with Coeliac Disease sufferers and have a special gluten free menu plus they send out all my food with a special little allergen flag in it, which I really like. After a three course late lunch in there, a dessert is a must at all times, we took a slow stroll to the Criterion in Piccadilly.
We were there to see 2.22 A Ghost Story. It has been playing in various theatres in London for quite a while now and they seem to regularly update the cast. It is written by Danny Robbins who also has his own podcast and Radio 4 series called Uncanny which features real life ghost stories. The play however to the best of my knowledge comes from his imagination. We both really enjoyed it the plot was very clever. It makes you jump and laugh in equal measure, it is funny but it touches on a lot of very modern real and serious subjects with a constant spookiness running through it as the title suggests. And I hope this is not a spoiler but there is also a clock on stage.
The cast in the current show are Laura Whitmore, Matt Willis, Tasmin Carroll and Felix Scott and they are all brilliant. We had seats in the stalls and you really do fee part of what is happening on stage. It is very clever how they create the atmosphere and at times leave the whole audience feeling on edge. The other great thing is they have a performance at 6pm on a Sunday which means you can see the show and still be home at a reasonable time ready to start the week.
I went to the England game at Wembley on Monday with my dad and a mate. There are few bigger games in world football than us against the German’s. Although the first half did not really live up to the billing, it seemed very slow and more like a game of chess. It did pick up in the second half and ended up being an entertaining three all draw, which was about the right result in the end to be fair. I did enjoy seeing Harry Kane get his 51st goal for his country with an unstoppable penalty.
After the game only to wait for the queues for the train home to die down you understand my dad and I found a nearby pub. We plonked ourselves down on a couple of seats at a table with another lad who had also taken his father to the match. As it happened both kids and parents were around the same age, so we had a great chat for about an hour or so. They were both ace gentleman from Cheshire who had some good stories and who had done some fun and cool things. In is always interesting to meet new people randomly and have a good laugh with friendly strangers. We left them in the bar and wandered to the now nearly empty platform to get our train home. Another successful family night out for me and the old man!
A reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninespringshttps://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/
Yesterday I had a day out at the races with a group of friends. It was our annual Ascot trip which had to take an enforced two year break, so it was good to all be together having a few drinks and watching the races. I will tell you about it next time we speak. Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.
The Queen
I am and always have been a supporter of the Royal Family, I can remember being aware of who the Queen was from a very early age. I felt she worked tirelessly for the country and was often the voice of reason. She was the perfect figurehead, clearly compassionate, so aware of her duty and role plus fully appreciative that she was born into it so had a real desire and work ethic to give herself totally to the position. Even on days when I am sure she did not feel like it there were always smiles when meeting her public and she was such a good public speaker.
I think if I am honest I am still coming to terms with the fact she is no longer with us. We saw those pictures of her meeting the outgoing and incoming Prime Ministers. She did I will concede look a bit frail but she was smiling and carrying out her duties. Therefore I did not think that forty-eight hours later we would receive the devastating news that we did. I always really wanted to meet her to say hello and thank her personally for what I feel she had done for the United Kingdom. I would have liked to have a chat with her and maybe even be the subject of her great sense of humour I will now sadly never get that chance.
I remember when I was at Primary School at the age of six or seven the whole class wrote a letter to the Queen. I will be honest I cannot recall what I said in mine now I possibly just asked some ridiculous questions about her day to day life. I will however never forget the joy and excitement when the class got a letter on Royal headed note paper from her Lady in Waiting who thanked us for our letters. We each got given a copy and I still have my one at home somewhere.
Fast forward nearly forty years to during the first lockdown in 2020. I like most people had more time than I am used to on my hands, so I decided it was about time Her Majesty had an update from me. As I suspected she may have wondered what I was up to and what had happened to me since we last spoke. Believe it or not I did write to the Queen again but this time it was a thank you letter for all I felt she did.
Having watched lots of the behind the scenes documentaries I knew as I said earlier that she had a brilliant sense of humour so I put things in there that I thought might make her at least smile. Once again I got a reply back from her current Lady in Waiting. Now I do not know if the Queen actually saw my letter or not but the fact I got to at least document what I felt about her and got to thank her was enough for me.
I have been going to Royal Ascot for many years and one of the highlights for me was always The Queen’s arrival. I used to get a good spot in the Parade Ring to make sure I could see her arrive in her carriage. She always dressed so well in such bright and vibrant colours and looked quite happy and relaxed. I think I may have got a wave one year. She did of course love her horse racing and was a winning owner and breeder several times. In fact she was still riding ponies well into her nineties. It is going to be so weird at Ascot next year knowing that she will not be there.
I took my mum for a tour of Buckingham Palace a few years ago. They had an exhibition next door of some of the presents that the Royal Family had received from overseas visits needless to say all of the items in there were stunning. We then were taken through the state rooms of the great house. I really enjoyed it I like the splendour and history of the place. I liked the way it was decorated and could certainly see myself being able to live there. It was special walking where the Queen would have walked and being in rooms where she would have met many amazing people. They showed us the room in which they perform the investitures so I had a good look around to get a feel for the place so I will be at ease when I collect my MBE or Knighthood in the future.
I will be joining the nation on Monday in saying goodbye to this country’s longest serving monarch. It is going to be strange her not leading all the usual annual events. I do like the fact she is already being referred to as Elizabeth the Great that seems totally fitting to me. I thought that she could go on for ever but of course no one can. She did an amazing job as our figurehead, although I think that the memories of her I will treasure most were in recent years when she was on the Buckingham Palace balcony with her family, children, grand-children and great children. Her smile in those situations and the joy she clearly got from looking after the youngest members of the family. Rest in Peace Queen Elizabeth II.
A couple of weeks ago I went to Pub in the Park in Chiswick. It was started a few years ago by the chef Tom Kerridge. It is run in sessions there is an afternoon and evening one and we had tickets for both of them on the Saturday. There is a hotel just around the corner from the venue so we booked in there for a couple of nights. On the Friday I went to a leaving do for one of the producers at work. She held it in a pub just around the corner from the studios that I had no idea existed but it is a great little place hidden away down a side street. I thought I had been in every pub in London but I am still discovering new ones.
I had a great time having a few drinks and talking about radio with everyone there, always one of my favourite subjects. I did manage to get Laura whose party it was a drink, mind you she asked for a half and I somehow ended up with a pint despite ordering a half at the bar. As the other drink was a wine for me I am guessing the girl thought it was the other way round and that I would like a pint. I left Laura still drinking her larger than requested beverage and raced across London to meet Lynda and our friends in a Cote in Chiswick for dinner. I got there just in time to order with everyone else and we had a nice relaxing meal to ease ourselves into the weekend.
The next morning we got up and had breakfast my gluten free option was basically fruit and yoghurt but that was fine as we were after all off to a food festival. We arrived there just after half eleven trying some free samples of food and drink on arrival. Lynda bought a few bits and pieces and I had some food from one of my new favourites chefs whose place in Marlow we ate at fairly recently. I then had to race off to go and see Tottenham play Fulham. This involved me running to Turnham Green Station getting the tube, then running from Seven Sisters to the ground. I made it to my seat five minutes before kick-off.
Happily we won which made it all worth it. On the final whistle I then had to run back up the Tottenham High Road to Seven Sisters get back on the tube. Then get back to Turnham Green and run to our hotel to have a quick shower, get changed and meet everyone back at Chiswick House for the evening Pub in the Park session. It is fair to say that my love of Spurs did make my day a lot busier and sweatier than it needed to be but with three points in the bag I was ready to party. In fact the first thing I did after meeting up with Lynda was grab a drink.
One of our favourite chefs Atul Kochhar was doing a cookery demonstration. It was from his stand that I had got my meal earlier. On the way to see him in action we stopped there again to get more of his food. The big appeal for me was unlike most other places there three out of the four dishes he was offering were gluten free. We had one of everything two dishes each and went to watch the main man show us how to make one of the creations that I was eating.
The food tasted amazing, he is a really top man and chef. He made cooking a fish curry up on the stage look so easy and was also very funny with his commentary on what he was doing. Lynda who has hundreds of cookery books then decided to buy his latest book and get it signed by the man himself as he was doing a signing straight after. He was lovely, we had a quick chat to him as he was writing and I tried to take a picture of him and Lynda but did a terrible job due to a rogue light shining at her. Most of the pictures you see on this website are taken by her thankfully.
Atul Kochhar
We then went to join the others watching Sophie Ellis-Bextor on the main stage. She was doing a combination of her own hits and some great disco cover versions. I met her and her mum outside a cinema in Richmond when Janet Ellis was on Blue Peter and Sophie would have been about six. I got Janet’s autograph and I still have it. I have interviewed her since and sadly she does not remember me. Anyway Sophie’s set was brilliant she had her husband and brother playing in the band. Her final song was Murder on the Dancefloor, she got her two youngest children up on stage to dance with her during it and it was the most beautiful and hilarious thing I have ever seen. The kids were really going for it and she could not stop laughing.
We then wandered around and sampled some more food and drink including some Champagne and a Pina Colada before grabbing a pint of cider to enjoy the headline act with. It was a DJ set from Sister Bliss from Faithless. It was as you would expect very high energy and dance music orientated. There was a lot of bouncing around and it did feel like being at a nineties rave at times. She is great and as you would expect played a lot of big songs. At the time I thought it was the first time I had seen her, until I spoke to a mate this week and he reminded me that I previously saw her perform after the Cartier Polo at Windsor about fifteen years ago. Pub in the Park was as ever fantastic. It is more than likely we will be there again next year.
I had planned on seeing The Mousetrap with Lynda last Friday. I had seen it before about twenty four years ago but she had not so we booked tickets. Sadly due to recent events I was extremely busy at work and was late leaving so I actually missed the entire first half of the play. I arrived at the theatre just before the interval. I met up with Lynda who was still holding the pre-show red wine she had got me while making her way to collect the interval drinks. Nobody can say I am not extremely well looked after. She filled me in on what I had missed and we then took our seats for the second half.
I got up to speed quite quickly and if I am honest about half way through it all came back to me and I remembered what happened. It is a brilliant play as you would expect from anything written by Agatha Christie. You can easily see why it is the longest running play in the West End. I enjoyed the bit that I did actually manage to see. This experiment did prove to me that if you have already seen a show before you can still have a good time at the theatre by only seeing half of it, but if you can see the whole thing from the start that is still the best way of doing things.
It was nice to see Champions League football back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. I was lucky enough to see us beat Marseille two nil in our opening group match the other week. It was a tough game but two great headers from Richarlison saw us through. It did help when they went down to ten men but a win is a win. I am just happy to be back in the competition. I do feel we have a decent chance of getting to the next stage. And I say that despite us losing two nil in the week away at Sporting Lisbon.
A reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/
I am in Northampton this weekend to go to a friend’s 60th Birthday party. I will tell you all about it next time we speak. Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.
Buddy Good Time
Recently my girlfriend ended up looking after her niece and nephew for a night. I went round to her place to assist with my plan being just to give her moral support. However when I arrived I found myself straight away playing with some miniature skateboards and a toy skate ramp. I am not saying the child in question was taking things too seriously but his boards had grip tape on them. It reminded me of the full size skateboard I had as a kid and also how bad I was at it. I could not do any tricks, I never went anywhere near a ramp and I could only just about stay on it. To be honest I have no idea why I actually bothered getting one. Other than they were I guess one of the cool things to have when I was a kid.
I then found myself doing some drawing with the girl. She is only seven but a brilliant artist so it put my stick men efforts to shame. Inspired by my art we did play a few games of hangman. Next it was time to get the tablet out to play some Candy Crush, which I possibly enjoyed a lot more than I should have. I did manage to get a break for good behaviour so I could eat my dinner with Lynda. She had done us Greek style chicken kebabs and chips, which tasted amazing.
After the food her niece was asking if she could paint my fingernails, happily we reached a compromise deal where I let her tape bright bits of paper on to my hand instead. When it was time for bed she asked me to read her a bedtime story. I do not need to be asked twice to read out loud and entertain somebody. The book was selected and I put on the performance with different voices for all the characters of course. I must have been very good as she fell asleep almost instantly as soon as I had finished reading. By the end of the book I was about ready to drift off myself to be honest.
We returned the children to their parents the next morning and decided to head to London for the afternoon as it was a nice day. With no real plan in mind we hopped on the train after midday. On arrival we decided to head to Carnaby Street for a look around the shops there. It is of course very thirsty work looking at clothes so we stopped for a drink in the sun outside a pub that just happened to have my favourite gluten free beer.
Then we decided to head across the river and have a stroll along the south bank which again resulted in us having another drink in the sun although this time it was a soft one. While we were there we decided to go and have some food at the Cote round the corner from where we were at Festival Hall. They are coeliac accredited and do nice food so from my point of view there is nothing not to like. We had a very nice and civilised dinner. It was a very relaxing afternoon enjoying the summer in the capital.
I have been to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival a couple of times in the past. Unfortunately I did not manage to get there this time around. It is a brilliant event and you never have enough time to see everything you want to. I normally spend a long weekend there which means I get in two and a half days of comedy. On average I watch five shows a day, starting at midday and some days going beyond midnight. Obviously I do have a couple of breaks for food.
It is so tough working out the schedule for the day. I normally book tickets for each show so I know I can get in and so that I can space them out so I can get between the venues in time. There are gigs all over the city so it can on occasions take say forty minutes to get from one place to another. One of the highlights from my last visit was a late night adult’s only show by Basil Brush. That was great fun and on after midnight.
I try to get the balance right between seeing the new shows of comedians I really like and discovering new people who I have not seen perform before. Well done to a mate of mine Olaf Falafel who managed to get two of his gags in the top ten jokes of the Fringe competition run by the television channel Dave. Although he did actually win it last time that the audience poll was run.
I plan to hopefully go along for a few days next year. The atmosphere is ace and it is lots of fun. Many well known established comedians make the journey up there and of course make a bit of money out of their shows but there are plenty more upcoming comics who will struggle to get an audience and will lose money. Therefore if you ever go try to see a wide selection of acts, you never know you might discover someone up and coming before they hit the big time and you can say you were there supporting them from the start.
I hope you had a nice Bank Holiday weekend. Mine was relatively quiet and relaxing. Lynda and I have had some very busy weekends recently and we have some more to come, so we thought we would take it easy for a change. On the Saturday we walked along the canal near where she lives and found a bar with outside space that served my favourite gluten free beer. It was a nice day so we stopped there for a few drinks. Then we went back to hers’ to enjoy a nice bottle of red wine and a delicious meal that she cooked for us.
On the Sunday my mate Adam was playing in a cricket match about fifteen minutes down the road, so we went along to watch him for a bit. I cannot remember the last time I had previously seen any live cricket. It was just a friendly game that he was playing in. He opened the bowling for his side and got a wicket with the last ball of his first over. He is a much better cricketer than me. I have only ever been involved in two proper games in my life, one was at school and the other was a celebrity charity match on Dorset with Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall.
The club where he was playing had a second floor bar with a balcony so we got a soft drink each and watched the action from there. We stayed for a couple of hours and we saw him bowl a few more overs although it is fair to say they were not quite as successful as his first one. We had a quick chat with him during the lunch break before heading off so I could watch the Spurs game on TV. Sadly for him that meant that we missed him bat and top score for his team with 34 runs, although his side did lose in the end.
Then that evening we went for dinner at the local Prezzo. Obviously the main reason we went there is that they are coeliac accredited, but they do actually have a good selection of gluten free meals to choose from. It is not that often I get the chance to have garlic bread so when I saw a gluten free version of it as a starter, I had to have that. That was followed by a pasta dish and the meal was finished off with some cheesecake. Before we ate we both had a cocktail, well they were on a two for one deal so it would have been rude not to. I had a spiced rum punch which was really nice and refreshing.
When we got back we ended up watching Ricky Gervais’s latest Netflix stand up special Super Nature. It was good and I enjoyed it but it did seem to almost include exactly the same topics as his previous one. Plus it did appear to borrow a small section from some old Billy Connolly material, which to be fair to him could have been totally coincidental. It did make me laugh quite a bit, though.
On the Bank Holiday Monday we went for a walk at the Ashridge Estate. It was the first time I had been there. It has lots of routes to take of varying distances. We ended up taking a stroll to Ashridge House which is somewhere Henry VIII and Elizabeth I both owned and used. It is a very impressive building. We stopped for a cup of tea in the courtyard cafe they have there before retracing our steps and returning to the car. It was a chilled out weekend and I felt refreshed and ready to go again after it!
Jerry Allison, whose drumming featured on Buddy Holly’s influential hits, has died at the age of 82. As part of The Crickets, he co-wrote songs like That’ll Be The Day and Peggy Sue, earning him a place in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. I must confess I am a big Buddy fan and have seen the musical about his life at least five times. He wrote so many great and catchy songs in such a very short space of time. Inspiring Don McLean to write American Pie about the tragic plane crash that killed Buddy, Ritchie Valens as well as The Big Bopper. If you get chance this weekend listen to a bit of Buddy Holly you will not regret it!
The win at home against Wolves a couple of Saturday’s ago was crucial to our season. If we had lost that match the hard fought for point the previous week at Chelsea would have all been for nothing. We have started the season well. We look mentally and physically stronger and have made a few great additions to the squad. Plus with Conte in charge I do feel that we can achieve something. We managed to win at Nottingham Forest and drew away at West Ham United, which is always a difficult game for us. I am looking forward to going to see us play Fulham this afternoon. It will be another tough one but they all are, hopefully we can get the win we need.
Last Tuesday night I went to a Prom at The Royal Albert Hall that was part of the BBC’s season of concerts. A mate of mine got two very reasonably priced on the day tickets so we went along. It is a venue I really like. The look and feel of the place is magical and the acoustics there are amazing. It was a specially commissioned one hour long soundscape in the form of a concept album. It was both audio and visual and featured a band along with the full orchestra. The idea behind it was one hundred years of the BBC, as it is the corporation’s centenary year. I thoroughly enjoyed it, I thought it was extremely well done and I even found it a little inspiring.
I have now been back at BBC for just over a year as one of the scheduling team for Radio 4 and 4 Extra. It is good fun working closely with the producers and announcers. The whole team are brilliant!
A reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninespringshttps://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/
Today I am going to Pub in the Park in Chiswick. It is a food, drink and music event. I will tell you what it was like next time we speak.
Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.