New Year Resolutions

Out with the old, in with the new. New goals that is. It's that time of year when we all (well many of us) make promises to ourselves that we are profoundly unlikely to keep. Some of these promises last barely a day, others may take time to fall by the wayside, but most inevitably do so before the circle starts again this time next year.

So here are mine, in no particular order.

• I will once again attempt to lose weight after the Christmas festivities

In reality, my annual cycle of weight gain (+/- 10lbs to a stone in old money) usually starts around late October following an annual family holiday that invariably includes lots of cake and alcohol. There's then a descent towards Christmas which is essentially more of the same but with added chocolate thrown in for good measure. Also it's about managing portions/portion size. My wife's a great cook and I don't like leaving food, so if there's any left over......

Hopefully if the weather improves, I'll be back to my couple of rounds of golf a week which will help - in the summer I was walking around 30-35 miles a week with two or three rounds of golf helping enormously.

• I will try to be less grumpy

This is a tricky one. I make this "resolution" every year, and try my absolute hardest to keep it, but never seem to be able to do so. To be fair my wife is a saint to put up with me! I blame my genes. My Dad was a grumpy old git too. Sometimes I play on it a bit, but I think my default demeanour is on the grumpy side of neutral. I'd love to be patient and laid back, but I'm just not. Sometimes I wonder if I'm borderline depressive (not that suffering from  depression necessarily makes you grumpy), but I certainly suffer from mood swings. Mind you, all the crap going on at the moment doesn't help.

• Break 90 in a round of golf 

I took up golf seriously when I retired at the end of 2019, having otherwise only played (hacked around) once or twice a year. My initial target was to break 100 shots per round. I managed to achieve that quite quickly, and now regularly manage mid to high 90 rounds. My next target though is to crack the 90 barrier. I've managed 91 a couple of times, so I know it's doable.

Let's leave it at that. Too many resolutions increases the chances of failure!

What are yours?

Twitter: @Statto1927 

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/people/simon_hiscocks/ 

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Goodbye 2021 (and good riddance)

2021 is in its final death knells, and frankly, I'm not too sure many people are going to miss it in the same way we didn't miss 2020, the year Covid kicked off when we all thought it would be over in a few months. That worked out didn't it? Here we are almost two years later, and still firmly in the grip of this horrible pandemic.

However, looking back at my posts from early 2020 (around March), things are better now than they were then. You won't be stopped at the supermarket till for having more than 3 bottles of wine in your trolley. Toilet rolls are in plentiful supply. We can go out and about, even to the pub or restaurant. Live sport is on the telly (England cricket aside - that's more torture than sport) although currently in Wales at least you can't attend live sport unless it's less than 50 people. You can even go abroad, although we haven't and our cancelled/postponed overseas trips count since this all began is sitting at four with a couple planned for 2022 waiting nervously in the wings. 

As we rapidly approach New Years Eve to no doubt optimistically raise a glass to a health and happy New Year as we did on 31st December 2019 and 2020, I wonder if we really, truly will be looking back this time next year and saying, thank God we're finally through this? We'll no doubt find out in due course.

So looking back at 2021, what have been the highs and lows, both personally and more generally?

Highs

• As a family we've largely managed to avoid Covid, and stay fit and healthy although my son did succumb to it in September, but thankfully as he'd already been vaccinated, it was a case of a few days feeling quite rough, but no more.
• We've all been double jabbed and (by tomorrow) we'll all have been boosted too.
• My daughter got a new job
• My son's moved out into his own place (I mean that in a good for him, not pleased he's gone sort of way!)
• We have, despite all the trials and tribulations around Covid managed a number of fabulous holidays/breaks, including North Wales, West Wales, Bournemouth and Devon
• We've walked with alpacas
• We've had a new patio built
• I've played lots of golf

Lows

• We're still in a pandemic with all that's associated with that
• My son caught Covid
• We had to postpone our Corfu holiday (again)

More generally, 

• Misinformation is rife and fuelled by the use of social media (yes including some blogs, although hopefully not this one) and has resulted in some real divisiveness in society. There's frequently no middle ground or understanding of another viewpoint. And much of this is vile, vitriolic, and frankly dangerous.
• The Government has lurched from one disaster/crisis/embarrassment/scandal/corruption allegation to another, and continues to comfortably be the worst administration for many a long year
• The NHS continues to be woefully underfunded and is slowly being torn apart by the Tory government. Kudos to those every single person who works in the NHS that are doing their level best under extraordinarily difficult circumstances
• The Brexit chickens are coming home to roost and we'll no doubt see a lot more of the crap caused by this in the coming months
• Cardiff City are still crap
• England still can't beat Australia and are very crap
• COP26 didn't seem to achieve very much

For a fuller list of 2021 events worldwide, see this Wikipedia page

So a mixed bag, but there is hope for the future, but it's always the hope that kills you.

So whatever 2022 holds for you, I hope it's better than 2021.

Happy (fingers crossed) New Year to you all.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Omicron and all that shit

Credit. Imperial College, London

So here we are, with two more days until The Big Ho, Ho, Ho! (apparently we can't call it Christmas any more) and we are at the fag end of 2021.

Remember what we all said on New Years Eve 2019? Here's to a great 2020. Look how that turned out.

Remember what we said on New Years even 2020? Hurrah, we're starting to vaccinate, it'll all be ok by the summer. Look how that turned out.

And yet here we are. 2021 will soon be a distant memory, another new word Omicron, is abounding and causing UK governments to start imposing further restrictions on us all just as we thought we were seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not sure I'll be raising a glass to having a fantastic 2022 in New Year's Eve this year.

I recall watching a UK Government presser way back in the early days of the pandemic, when one of the health honchos (probably Chris Whitty, but it could have been someone else), saying (and I paraphrase),

"The only way out of this is through vaccines"

Well, we've been giving vaccines for over a year. I've had my two initial jabs and my booster (so three in all if you're keeping up), as has much of the population, certainly here in Wales, and across much of the UK.  Thankfully, through this, and largely following the guidance, advice and regulations most of my family has avoided catching Covid (as far as we know), although my son did get it in September this year, but luckily he'd already been jabbed by then, so whilst poorly for a few days, didn't need anything other than a bit of R&R. And for the thick amongst us, remember that having a vaccine isn't a 100% guarantee that you won't get it, or pass it on. It's designed to not make you as ill as if you'd not had the jab, and likely need hospital treatment (if you're lucky).

Anyway, through the jab programme things seemed to be getting back to some sense of normality and then along comes Omicron, a variant of Covid. It is of course not surprising that there is (yet another) variant. That's what viruses (virii?) do. They mutate. That's why the flu jab is constantly needing tweaking. The problem here though is that there appears to be some significant difference of opinions bout Omicron - whether it's more (or less) transmissible, whether it's likely to lead to more serious illness or not, and consequently we have a some confusion about the right way to manage this in society. And as usual, the various UK governments are all taking a slightly different approach, announcing stuff at different times, and with different emphasis.

There is certainly some element of fear around Omicron and the rate of transmission - it seems almost everyone in London has it if mainstream media is to be believed, with most government and media acknowledging that we're in for a big hit, but no one seems able to quantify that in real terms.

The Welsh Government started a few days ago by releasing a statement at midnight (!), yes 12am when almost everyone was in bed, saying that all sporting events in Wales would be held behind closed doors from Boxing Day. Today they've further embellished and added to restrictions by reverting to a variation of alert level two (from alert level 0) which included no meeting of more than 6 in a pub/restaurant, 2m distancing, face masks, table service in hospitality as well as clarifying further restrictions on attending sporting/outdoor events.

Understandably, this has not gone down well with many. The main arguments seem to be along the line of - I can still go to a pub and watch football (if there's any on - most clubs seem to have a problem with players and staff catching covid, and there's also seems to be an element of many footballers not being vaccinated at all, but that's another story), but I can't go along and watch it outside in person. It's not quite as black and white as that, but I must admit as a general principle it does seem daft.

The same for park runs or indeed any large outdoor gathering - it's outside, largely socially distanced and being in a well ventilated area is now one of the defect bits of guidance, but no, you can't do it. Nip along to your local 'Spoons though with half a dozen mates and tens of others who are doing the same thing at the same time. Oh, and you still can't sing in a sparsely populated church, but it's fine to sing in a packed Alexandra Palace at the Darts world Championship with a crowd of people fuelled on by expensive lager.

Oh, not to mention the rules saying you must work from home if you can and you could be fined for going into work. Can you imaging saying that three years ago?

Basically, it's all a bit of a mess.

I don't know when all this is going to end. We cannot continue in a cycle of easing and locking down forever. People's mental health is at stake here as much as their physical health.

I do understand the need for management and to protect the NHS form being over-run, but to be perfectly frank, the NHS is more at risk of being over-run through continued and chronic long term underfunding and poor strategic management at government level than from Covid alone, but at some point there has to be a scenario where we just get on with it.

As an aside, if you're one of the vaccine nay-sayers or just an anti-vaxxer, you're a twat. Get it done. Don't give me any crap about not knowing what's in it. You probably don't know the secret recipe for KFC or Coke, but you'll still eat and drink it, and if you're worried about side effects, just look at the contact-indications on the med sheet in a box of paracetamol.

But hey, it's Christmas. I'm looking forward to a fairly quiet one (well I can't go to the football on Boxing Day as it's cancelled, or any of the matches following as crowds have been stopped from attending). 

So a nice few days with my immediate and close family away from it all. Might even get a game or two of socially distanced golf in before they stop that too.

Have a good one wherever you are.

For all our sakes he must go

Photo credit: The Guardian

Quite how Boris Johnson pictured here ahead of the 2012 London Olympics when he was "only" Mayor of London, ever got to be leader of the Conservative party and subsequently Prime Minister I'll never know. He was a fool then, and he's been found to be an even bigger fool since then, with an ever growing catalogue of lies whilst overseeing perhaps the most inept government in recordable history. Even more staggering is his apparent ability to deny, shrug off and ignore the clear and obvious failings of him and his government, whilst a not insignificant proportion of voters still think he's the man to lead us in this current car crash of a country. 

If this was any other organisation, corporation, PLC or otherwise, he'd be long gone. Maybe the latest abomination of him denying there was a party at No 10 during a tier 3 lockdown last year, whilst simultaneously saying he'll instigate an inquiry to investigate it (if he's denying it happened by the need for an investigation?) whilst the rest of the country was staying at home, unable to see and visit loved ones, many in the final stages of their life. One rule for us, and one for him and his parliamentary chums, staffers and other "associates"? Looks like it.

The man's a complete charlatan, and a laughable clown, and I don't mean that in a funny, nice clown way. If he had an ounce of backbone he'd resign. But he hasn't. He'll shift the blame and let someone else take the fall. That's his style, and he and his cronies have got form.

North Devon in late Autumn

This post is a bit late. Truth be told, I though I'd done this, and it was only when posting my Cowbridge, Aberthin and Stalling Down post yesterday I realised I hadn't done so.

Anyway, we (my wife's side of the family) have a family tradition of a week away in last autumn. For years we went to the Peak District but last time we managed this in 2019 we went to North Devon near Ilfracombe. This year we'd decided to revisit there. Predominantly it's a week away with my wife's sisters, their better halves, some of our children and their children, just to chill, but with a healthy dose of walking, cake and alcohol thrown in for good measure.

We had hired a house - a fantastic place near Watermouth that had a room enough for all - 4 double en-suite bedrooms, but enough extra room to sleep 12 in all. It also had a pool table and a table tennis table. Comfy, warm, fantastically furnished, making a great base.

Ages ranged from 10 to 72 so outdoor activities were planned to accommodate everyone, often with 2 groups - those doing shorter walks/coffee only, and those walking a bit further.

The weather at this time of year is obviously hit and miss, and despite a week of glorious autumn weather then week before we went, the forecast for our week was pretty mixed (ie mostly rain). In the end, we really only had one really wet day, and whilst there were plenty of showers there was also enough sun and dry periods to ensure we all had a fantastic time.

We'd stopped at Knightshayes National Trust near Tiverton on the way down to meet up - well worth a visit, and then over the week we for walks to Saunton, Croyde and Baggy Point, Lynton & Lynmouth, and more locally near Watermouth. A great week with plenty of laughs, and general relaxing. Oh, and a few beers.....

The early gang at Knightshayes NT

Lynmouth front

One of the gang near Lynton

At Arlington Court NT

The North Devon coast

Broadbands Beach, voted the "Happiest View in the UK".
Not sure by who though....

A rather stormy looking Croyde Bay

Near Baggy Point, Croyde

Valley of the Rocks near Lynton

Knightshayes NT

Coast looking southwest near Lynton

Signpost on the Arlington Estate

Carriage museum buildings at Arlington Court NT

Watermouth Castle - now a theme park

The rather bleak landscape of the Taw estuary 

Cowbridge, Aberthin and Stalling Down

Today 25th November dawned bright and sunny. Having seen the forecast my good lady had decided we should go for a walk, and we'd made the decision to do a shortish circular of around 4 miles, starting in Cowbridge, one of the Vale Trail's walks - Number 9 in fact, the Iolo Morganwg Heritage walk. This circular route takes in the historic market town of Cowbridge, its surrounding fields and wooded paths. The places of interest are linked to one of the Vale’s most colourful characters, Iolo Morganwg (1747-1826). He was a romantic poet, political radical and humanitarian, who was the first to propose that Wales should have its own national institutions.

As an aside, these walks are generally very well signposted with regular way markers.

We parked up in the car park in Cowbridge town  centre, and togged up in our boots and warm clothes, despite the sun it was chilly early doors) and set off - in the wrong direction. Once I'd read the map and instructions properly (the map's not great, but the instructions are excellent), we found the right path. Initially this ran by the river Thaw that bisects the pretty town of Cowbridge before setting out into the fields towards the village of Aberthin. 

River Thaw and Cowbridge

After some fairly flat walking through (not too muddy) fields we came up the small village of Aberthin. It's a small and pretty village, with two pubs The  Hare and Hounds and the Farmers Arms facing each other across the road (sadly both shut mid morning, or otherwise might have been tempting for a pint). Despite being less than 10 miles or so from where I live, I'd never ever been to Aberthin, but I might be popping back to try out the pubs/restuarant here.....

Form the centre of Aberthin we left the village and started upon Stalling Down a fairly decent ridge. The going was steady rather than steep, and on the way up we passed a delightful bench in memory of (I think) a John Moores in the design of what looked to me like a WW2 bomber - perhaps a Lancaster. There wasn't any detail about this, but it was an unusual bench.

Bench on Stalling Down

At the top we had glorious views over the Vale of Glamorgan, including a fairly large stables/gallops complex where horses were being given a thorough workout. There's a standing stone here at the top of the down dedicated to Iolo Morganwg and said to be the site of the first meeting of the Gorsedd (a community or meeting of bards) of the Bards of the isle of Britain in Wales

Standing stone on Stalling Down

From here the walk descended gently off the down passing a field with a couple of donkeys - my wife loves a donkey - who doesn't?!) and required the crossing of the busy A48 (via a pathed overpass), before turning up a track to a place known as "The Clump". This was apparently a place where people came to view public hangings back in the day, although there's no evidence of that today.

Cowbridge Donkeys

Here walkers following Trail 9 have a choice. They can either go back to Cowbridge or continue for a further couple of miles, taking in the pretty hamlet of St Hilary, which by chance also has a fantastic pub/restuarant.

However, that was not for us today, and from the Clump, we descended down an old track back into the road into Cowbridge, and thence back to our starting point.

All in all it was a pleasant walk in fabulous November weather, although once we were off Stalling Down, in truth the last section from the Clump down into Cowbridge was a bit boring. Once our gear was dumped, we treated ourselves to a coffee and panini in the local Costa, before indulging in a little Christmas victuals shopping in Cowbridge Waitrose.

This would be a pleasant walk at pretty much any time of the year, with each season bringing something different to see. Next time I might plan the timing a little better to co-incide with pub opening hours!

Cardiff City - Shambles of a club

Mick McCarthy, former Cardiff City Manager
Photo: Wales Online

So, Mick McCarthy's reign as Cardiff City manager is over (thank God). After an initial honeymoon period at the end of last term when he hauled us into the play-off's it's all gone horribly wrong this season. With the fans back at CCS full of optimism (maybe a slight overstatement), we then got rid of our all our wide players so cutting off the supply line for last season's 20 goal hero Kieffer Moore to the point where he's netted just once this season. We've been unable to score (1 goal in the last 8 games I think it is), and all of those last 8 have been defeats, including the 3-0 humiliation against arch rivals Swansea. Playing 4 or 5 centre backs every game and continuing the "lump it forward" dinosaur tactics, with no attempt to do anything but defend (and we've been pretty shit at that) has further frustrated and angered the fanbase. 

McCarthy failed to genuinely engage with the fans at any point, and his downfall has been inevitable given the current run of form. The loss to former manager Neil Warnock's Middlesborough last weekend, along with a man of the match performance from former Bluebird hero Sol Bamba might have been the final straw, although there are plenty of suggestions around that the decision  to dispense with McCarthy's services was a done deal long before that match.

Anyway, it's onwards (saying "and upwards" would be overly optimistic at this point) as City begin a search for a new manager, with former Blades boss Chris Wilder seemingly favourite (but why he, or indeed anyone else would want to come to City at the moment is a question that needs answering - see later in this post). Other names in the frame include  a few of the regular faces as these things come around - Chris Hughton (no thanks),  and Tony Pulis (definitely no thanks) as well as fan favourite Craig Bellamy (extremely unlikely), Frank Lampard (no chance) and even former boss Neil Harris (that's a no from me).

For the moment, U23 manager Steve Morison takes charge (at least for the next 3 games). He's widely applauded for having an U23 side that play attractive football, although that seems to get beaten out of players when they get to the 1st team.  Whether with the players he's got available, 3 games is enough for him to radically change the style of play and fortunes of the club on the field remains to be seen. Once thing's for sure, he's got a tough job on his hands.

As if all this wasn't bad enough, following the 'Boro game it came to light that just before the match (literally 90 minutes before!) City Chairman Mehmet Dalman met with a few selected fan representatives to set out the challenges facing the club at the moment. And it doesn't make for pretty reading.

On the pitch, managerless City sit just one place above the relegation spots, with a threadbare squad, players who seemingly don't want to be here, and a playing style that's archaic at best. Dalman indicated in the fans meeting that there would be no money for transfers not only in the coming January window, but also next summer. Hence my observation about whether Wilder, or indeed any other potential manager would want to come to a club with apparently no prospect of being able to shape and strengthen the playing squad. Moreover, Dalman also inferred that the whole footballing approach and playing style are being directed by owner Vincent Tan, the multi-millionaire Malaysian businessman currently bankrolling City, who once urged a former manager to get the goalkeeper's to shoot more! 

There were also inferences that a number of the current squad will not have their contracts renewed at the end of season, and with up to 10 players out of contract in the summer, that's going to be a massive problem for whoever's the manager at the time especially if there are going to be no funds available.

Additionally, the club continues to face a number of significant legal actions with potentially serious financial implications - the Emiliano Sala, Sam Hamman and Michael Isaacs cases all in progress, with Dalman suggesting that potential monetary losses in those cases (although that's not certain by any means) could amount to £50 million.

Mehmet Dalman, Cardiff City Chairman
Photo: Wales Online

He also made a number of remarks about the stewardship of the owner that many have interpreted as a bit of the old "slopey shoulders" syndrome by the Chaiman, apparently distancing himself from his boss.

There was also talk of potentially re-financing the club, although quite what that means or entails was not forthcoming.

All in all then, Cardiff City are in a pretty grim place. 

Relegation to League 1, and even administration is a real possibility unless City start winning, but quite how any manager coming in can change things around quickly enough given the current squad and lack of funds is a mystery. Add to that an owner who knows little about football, but seems to be driving the way we play from Malaysia, and a bunch of legal cases that could financially cripple the club.

We've also got a group of players who will be out of contract come the summer, with no doubt some of them already looking at the shambles who will be looking to their agents to get them a move to a more normal football club. 

As a side note, the players have to take some responsibility for the on-field results too - McCarthy was the buck stop as manager, but he can't kick the ball. That's down to the players, and almost without exception, they've underperformed this season.

And a secondary side note, on Saturday I felt a great deal of sympathy for the two young players who came on (Isaak Davies and Eli King) who should have been revelling in their 1st XI debuts but were caught up in the toxic atmosphere of anti-McCarthy/general performance boos and jeers during and at the end of the game. Not a way they're going to want to remember their debuts.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Championship must be looking at their fixture list, and marking us down as a banker 3 points.

Grim stuff. Who'd be a football supporter?

Boosted - get the vaccine!

I've just been to the local mass vaccination centre (literally two minutes up the road) to get my Covid-19 booster.

All very seamless, and hard to believe this time last year with vaccinations not even ready, that within 12 months I'd not only have been vaccinated once, but three times. It's been an astonishing success and roll out, and I'm very happy and grateful to have been vaccinated so quickly.

I simply cannot understand the anti-vax mentality, but I suppose it's their choice, albeit a bad one. Vaccines are there to improve health outcomes. Yes, there are risks, but frankly you take more risks crossing the road, or smoking, or drinking to excess or taking unprescribed drugs for kicks.

I'm now about to book my flu vaccine.....

#getvaccinated

Short Break to Sunny Bournemouth

Courtesy of a rather nice and at the time unexpected gift from someone, Anne and I last week had a two night short break to Bournemouth.

Bournemouth Pier from the cliff top

We set off on Wednesday morning, having planned a stop at Kingston Lacy (National Trust) which is close to Bournemouth on the way down. Though I knew roughly the way, I programmed (as I always do for any trip as much for traffic info as anything) the sat nav. All was well until we reached Bath, where for some reason the sat nav decided to not play ball, and started giving some really weird readings (like not being on the road at all!) and moving around all over the place. I held out for about 30 mins before deciding to re-set it, at which point the whole infotainment screen on the car decided it wouldn't load, rending us without sat nav, radio, or indeed anything else on the screen. (As an aside, the car's due to go in for some work and a software update soon and this has happened before, but not to this extent). Anyway, long story short, we reverted to analogue and a good old road atlas!

So we finally made it to Kingston Lacy on what started as an overcast day, but was getting brighter. As with every place we seem to visit lately, there was renovation work going on with fencing and builders vans and scaffolding around the place but nevertheless we spent an enjoyable couple of hours wandering the grounds. Anne went into the house for a look around (I was on the phone to the car dealer telling them I need this work done urgently!). Kingston Lacy is definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.

Kingston Lacy NT

We arrived at our hotel in Bournemouth, the Durley Dean, in time to dump our bags and go for a wander, down the cliff and onto the (very long and extensive) promenade. We went onto the pier (note it's chargeable - I think it was £1.70 each), before walking back up through the lower gardens into town looking for somewhere to have a drink. In my research planning, I'd seen a place called "All Hail Ale" a micro pub. It's a little out of the town centre, but not by much. It's a cracking little place, with loads of beers and ciders on keg/cask and a decent selection of spirits. We'd planned a quick drink before finding somewhere to eat, but there was a cracking pizza place next door Da Mario, in the top 20 places to eat on Trip Adviser in Bournemouth and you can order and have it brought round to you at All Hail Ale. So we did! And it was a fabulous pizza. 

Suitably replenished after pizza and a few *cough* beers we retreated back to the hotel for a nightcap. As is often likely the case in Bournemouth, our hotel seems to be occupied almost exclusively by older clientele and the odd contractor. Bingo was on offer for those of that persuasion! Not quite Fawlty Towers, but you get the drift! However, that's doing the actual hotel a disservice. It was clean, rooms and bathrooms have obviously been modernised, and it has a small leisure area with a pool, sauna and steam room which we made use of during our stay.

The next day dawned bright and sunny - the forecast had been cloudy. Whilst there are lots of places in the general area that we want to see, we decided to make the most of just being in Bournemouth, and walk along the beach promenade from town to Poole harbour/Sandbanks approximately 3 miles (each way) - at least it's flat!

First though we went for breakfast at the Olive Cafe, about 5 minutes from the hotel. A smallish cafe, it had an extensive menu with food cooked to order, and was first class. Fuelled up, we walked down through the gardens to the prom, and began leisurely walk along the fabulous beach with regular stops for coffee and ice cream to take in the sights including an ongoing groyne replacement programme, the little access cliff gullies or "chines" as I discovered they're called, and the many, many, many, many beach huts lining almost the whole promenade from Boscombe to Poole.

Some posh beach huts

More beach huts

The huge beach, stretching for miles

At Poole harbour, we skirted some of the houses (mansions!) on the beach - looking in an estate agents, there was a lovely 4 bed place for a cool £5.5 million overlooking Poole Harbour. We poked our noses through the windows at Rick Stein's restaurant which seemed to be doing a decent trade at mid-day. You certainly need a few bob to live here. The harbour was full of wading birds - oystercatchers, turnstones and we even saw an egret.

The sunny weather continued (we've been really lucky with glorious weather on recent getaways), and I was glad I'd packed and was wearing my shorts. Not bad for the middle of October! By the time we'd almost  completed our return leg, we'd done about 8 miles, so we were glad of the cliff railway that for the princely sum of £1.75 a head took you up to the top of the cliffs and almost back to our hotel.

After a swim and steam room recovery relax, we were ready to to head out for a meal. We'd pre-booked at Lola's, a Tapas bar in town which again has really good Trip Advisor reviews. We'd seen it during our walk in the morning , although it was shuttered up and on a main road through town, and didn't look very appealing. In the evening though it was a different place. Only a small independent place, capable of holding maybe 20-30 people tops, but really very nice and doing a roaring trade. Great service, fantastic food made for a lovely meal, and other thumbs up recommendation if you're ever in the area.

After our meal, we contemplated heading back to All Hail Ale, but instead went to the Goat and Tricycle (seriously, where do they get these names from?), a Butcombe Brewery pub serving an extensive range of decent beers. Although it serves food (who doesn't these days), it's a proper pub, even down to the old fella playing a piano in the bar! Well worth a visit.

By then, fairly knackered and replete, we went back to the hotel. 

In the morning we were up and away to avoid the inevitable Friday traffic (it's a minimum three and a half hour trip without any hold ups at Bath, Bristol, Newport and the current roadworks and on the M4 at J32/33. In the end, our journey back was pretty uneventful, driving through beautiful countryside - even the sat nav behaved.

All in all we had a wonderful break, and will definitely be back to this fabulous part of the country.

World Arthritis Day

Today is, apparently, World Arthritis Day, although I have to admit, despite suffering from the disease, it had passed me by until I heard someone mention it on the radio.

I suffer from psoriatic arthritis, a type of arthritis that affects some people with the skin condition psoriasis. It typically causes affected joints (usually fingers and feet in this type of arthritis), to become swollen, stiff and painful. I tend to suffer it mostly in the fingers and thumbs. I've also have osteoarthritis in my knees from years of playing cricket, although a partial knee replacement 3 years ago has worked wonders for that particular issue.

Interestingly when I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis I didn't even know I had psoriasis, but since then, both the arthritis and the psoriasis have become more prevalent. For years I self treated with moistening creams and ant-inflammatories, rejecting disease modifying drugs designed to slow down the degeneration of of joints caused by the disease - specifically methotrexate, an immunosuppressant as it's got a contraindication (side effect) list as long as your arm, and need regular blood tests as it can damage the liver. This means that you're not really supposed to drink (much) alcohol, and certainly have to keep it under check - a bit of a pain for a beer and wine lover like me...

However, a few years ago, I caved in as the pain in my fingers and thumbs, especially over the colder, damp months got unbearable. Since starting on this drug the arthritis is mostly well controlled on a low dose, and although the psoriasis has not disappeared, it has significantly reduced - it's handy having medication that controls psoriasis as well as slowing the joint degeneration. 

(I have to say, although I have far from given up alcohol, I do generally *cough* keep my intake fairly low).

As an aside, because I'm on methotrexate, it also means I'm on the "vulnerable" list as far as the 'rona virus goes, because it's an immunosuppressant. I can't in all honesty say that I fully shielded in the early days of the pandemic, although I was cautious for the first few months, during and immediately post lockdown 1. But I'd been double jabbed by the middle of January anyway.

This summer I had a flare up in one joint on the index finger of my left hand, which became very swollen and very painful. I contacted the rheumatology team, and last week they gave me a steroid injection into the joint, which worked wonders within 24 hours. Trust me, the first two photos here don't do justice to how swollen and painful this joint was. But it's virtually back to normal now. Thank God for the NHS by the way....

L index finger - very sore

L index finger - very sore

Immediately post steroid injection
Not the nicest place to have a needle stuck in!

In many ways I'm lucky that my arthritis is pretty well controlled on my current medication. Whilst I've got some slightly dodgy finger joints, it doesn't otherwise impact my life, and an occasional prophylactic ibuprofen if I know I'm going to be doing something that might cause some joint discomfort usually does the trick. I can play golf, do my gardening and pretty much just about anything else, although occasionally I have trouble opening jar lids, and my grip isn't what it used to be (but that might just be old age)!

Arthritis can be a terrible disease though, severely impacting people's ability to go about their day to day lives as normal, and frequently finds them in great discomfort, or even sometimes unbearable pain. It's often (like mine) not always immediately visible either.

Whilst (as yet), the disease and it's multiple variants cannot be "cured", it can with the right support, and if necessary medication or even surgery, be managed. And that, for most sufferers, is a blessed relief.

There are loads of resources on the interweb to help sufferers and those who care for them. Here are a couple.

Versus Arthritis

NHS Arthritis

Arthritis Action

Football apathy

Let's talk Cardiff City.

Image: Ben Evans/Huw Evans Agency)

Actually, at this moment in time I'd rather not but I'm going to anyway.

The Bluebirds are in a spot of bother. Seemingly unable to score (certainly in the first half, and often not at all), they're now leaking goals faster than a colander under a running tap, and dropping down the Championship table towards that relegation trapdoor. Since beating Nottingham Forest 2-1 on 12th September, they've lost away to Coventry 1-0 in what was regarded as one of their worst performances in a long time (that's not saying much though after what's followed), 1-0 to Bournemouth at home, 5-1 away to Blackburn and 4-0 at home to West Brom. That's 11 goals conceded vs 1 scored.

And it's not just that they're losing, but the whole manner of their play. Long derided by just about every other club as "hoofball" merchants under managers Mick McCarthy and Neil Warnock (and less hoofing, but equally pretty dull football under other recent managers), it's absolutely the case that long ball football is what you get at City at the moment. The last few matches have been hard to watch as a City fan, and believe me, I've seen them play some rubbish over the years. The ball spends so much time in the air, you'd think all they do in training is play keep uppy and head tennis.

After Mick McCarthy's appointment and subsequent honeymoon period when City drove to within an inch of the playoff final, it's all gone a bit crap. Against Bournemouth McCarthy said he'd picked a squad to "frustrate" them (the opponents). What? At home? Surely you should be picking a side to win - or at least try to? Against West Brom on Tuesday, he unbelievably selected 5 (yes five) centre backs in his XI, and yet still managed to concede after only 5 minutes. The outcry from City fans on the announcement of that squad was pretty much universally incredulous.

Said fans have inevitably, and unsurprisingly turned on McCarthy, and although chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning" from the home (and away) supporters during the West Brom game haven't been realised, you've got to think it's coming. City haven't got the most talented players, but surely they're better than this? They kicked off against West Brom and the very first kick of the game was deliberately back to the keeper, who then blasted it high upfield - a tactic repeated every time we kicked off after they scored their 4 goals. By half time, pretty much every time the ball was carted upfield (every time we had possession generally), it was met with a chorus of boos. You can't tell me that this is the way the players want to play. It's down to the manager. It's awful, awful football, and genuine relegation form and style. The fans want him out but whether the club can afford to get rid is another matter, as well as even if they did, who can they get in to change things? There's a growing school of thought that the club needs a root and branch clearout on the field, in the dugout and in the boardroom, but I can't see that happening.

As things stand, we're due to go and watch them tomorrow against Reading. But with an atrocious weather forecast, and recent grim watching, I'm not sure I can bear the effort of going. Half of me says sod it, it's not worth the frustration of another afternoon of torment, and the other half says you support the team through thick and thin. I'll make a call tomorrow, but as I write this it's already swayed 45/55 in favour of staying home in the dry.

And this brings me to another broader point. After almost 18 months of not going down to CCS to watch City due to the 'rona, I'm much more apathetic about the whole support thing. Since the pandemic arrived, or just before, I've retired, taken up golf including playing on Saturdays, which now creates a golf vs football dilemma. My golf isn't always great, but I enjoy it, so torturing myself watching Cardiff City every week or every other week, just hasn't really been on my radar. I might get the vibe back, but going down now, just to see the rubbish they're playing isn't really a way to get me back into and excited as a City fan.

Ineptitude on a national scale - that's the UK for you

Credit: @Coldwar_Steve
https://coldwarsteve.com

Not many people are likely to read this - I only have a couple of followers, but it's cathartic writing this down, and maybe someday, someone will look at it and think, "Blimey, the country was in the shit back then...."

The country (the UK that is) is currently in the midst of a petrol crisis. Not a shortage, though that may still come at some future point, but a problem caused by a lack of HGV drivers to deliver the stuff to petrol stations. It started with BP indicating that they'd had to close 6 of their 1,200 or so stations due to lack of deliveries, not in itself an issue at all, but in true British style, within 24 hours we have a crisis and people are panic buying, queuing for hours to put half a gallon in their car and stations are naturally therefore, running out. A vicious circle, and one not helped by how this stuff is reported in the mainstream media (MSM). Come on, a headline saying BP has to close petrol stations - even if it's maybe 1% of their total is inevitably going to get people panicking.

The one sure fire way to get people to panic, is to say "Don't panic".

This is just the latest in a long line of utter fiasco's to emerge under the current Tory government's term in office. The underlying problem appears to be Brexit (yes, that old chestnut) which caused many European drivers to either voluntarily or, due to the immigration implications go back to their own countries instead of being employed here. Apparently there may be some other issues - lack of infrastructure to support drivers in their job causing many to leave the industry, so it's probably a miss-mash of issues ultimately but Brexit is surely in there near the top.

All in all, this government's legacy is beginning to look more and more like an A-Z of how to bring a country to it's knees, and mostly on the policy strategy of saving money. It's like we've brought the Administrators as happens when a company goes bust.

The list feels endless, but some examples include:

• Brexit (overall but some if the key promises of:
• "reclaiming" £350m a week given the to EU to spend on our NHS (nope that didn't happen)
• Enabling our fishing industry to recover and thrive (nope that didn't happen either)
• Getting back control (nope - if this is control, I'd hate to think what out of control looks like)
• Immigration policy tied to with Brexit (above) and Covid (below) has resulted in massive staffing shortages in the NHS/care homes, hospitality sector, HGV  drivers (and probably many other sectors), let alone the general principle of supporting genuine immigrants fleeing oppressive governments elsewhere - for them those vulnerable people perhaps a right case of out of the frying pan.....
• Shortages of food on shelves in some areas (again placed at the door of lack of HGV drivers)
• It's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic (OK, the pandemic wasn't the Governments's fault, but it's handling most certainly is/was)with
• Unnecessary deaths
• Immeasurable strain on the NHS 
• Disjointed strategies amongst the English, Welsh, UK and NI devolved governments
• Alleged (I use that term loosley) corruption in the awarding and handling of major contracts to supply PPE and other goods/services
• More shortage crises - toilet rolls or flour anyone?
• Failure to adequately support and fund the NHS (although this probably deserves a blog post all of its own)
• An apparent desire to privatise and defund the NHS, perhaps the shining light of the UK and the envy of many (most) other countries, resulting in increased waiting times, frustrated and burnt out staff who increasingly seem to be a target for abuse
• Having to get the army in to drive ambulances
• Chopping Universal Credit and raising National Insurance - together with a general history of hitting the poorest whilst lining the pockets of the richest
• Inability to speak and/or give answers without lying (just Google Boris Johnson lying) or evasion (constantly)
• Climate change response (or lack of it)
• Support for the travel industry

I could go on, but it's too depressing.

And the problem is that despite all the above, and the sense that the country is spiralling towards implosion, there is still a significant number of people who think the Government is doing a good job. 

To be fair, the one area that they have largely succeeded in, is the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, although they appear to be incapable to reaching the (relative minority of anti-vaxers/anti-maskers) who still think that everything that's being done to protect them and the woodier population is either a conspiracy, or an infringement of their human rights or both. They're probably the same people currently queuing at petrol stations.

The end result of all this, is a country that's fast becoming the laughing stock of the world. Our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson (BJ) is being seen as the bumbling oaf that he undoubtedly is, more worried about ruffling his hair before an interview than doing something about the mess him and his party have created and overseen, supported by a cast of minions loyal to him too scared to sway from the party line or speak the truth when asked a simple, straightforward question. And in all honesty, most of them (at least in the cabinet) are probably so rich that they'd never have to queue at a petrol station, or worry about bare shelves, or how they're going to pay the bills. Meanwhile we've got Foreign Secretaries brokering trade deals with Mongolia, whilst trade with our closest and mainly prosperous European cousins is increasingly becoming harder and more bureaucratic because of Brexit. I was talking with a friend yesterday who is a senior manager for a large multi-national construction company who said that materials were costing on average 40% more than pre-Brexit - and that's if you can get them.

BJ's recent trip to the USA to broker improved trade deals hasn't gone well either, with US President Joe Biden hinting that there was a bit "to work through". It suggests that the US particularly sees us as much less of a world player than we once were.

Far from the promises of bringing back control, the Tory government is rapidly stumbling from crisis to crisis, unable to plan, or foresee solutions, making policy on the hoof. They're a disaster from start to finish, but the bigger problem seems to be that both enough people realise this, and an unnerving sense that there might not be anyone else out there that could do any better.

My musing's are borne from frustration as we seem to lurch from one crisis to the next, with poor reporting and clickbait headlines stoking the fires. 

The photo at the top of this post from the brilliant Christopher Spencer (aka Coldwar Steve) who's Twitter account @Coldwar_Steve posts brutal, funny (in a tragic-comedic way) pictures of current key topics and "leading" characters sets out some of the issues at hand far better than I ever could. Go give him a follow.

I'll leave you with this (not mine).

Stunning South Pembrokeshire - a short break

As the regular reader of this blog will know, Pembrokeshire is one of my favourite places, and I've been going there since I was in my early teenage years in 192 (or 73 - I forget) - yes I'm that old.

Usually we stay in and around the St David's peninsula although we had a lovely short break in Pembroke after last year's firebreak lockdown, when everything was still pretty much closed.

A few weeks ago we booked an almost spur of the moment midweek break, staying in an Air BnB in Milford Haven - not because we wanted to go to MH particularly, but because it was a nice base for a couple of walks we wanted to do around Dale and Barafundle.

We arrived on Tuesday evening and found our Air BnB easily enough. It was a bit unusual in that it looked like it was previously a garage or some other outbuilding in a previous life, in the backyard of the hosts house. To be perfectly honest the house and garden looked a bit shabby. Our place though was clean and tidy although missing a few essentials - like somewhere to hang clothes, or a table to eat on (there was a small pull out table with a couple of stools, but it was small!). Nevertheless for £70 a night we weren't complaining too much, we weren't intending to spend a lot of time in the place.

We dumped our stuff and walked down to Milford Haven marina, only a 10 minute walk away as we were virtually on the banks of the Cleddau. On the opposite bank of the Haven the Valero oil terminal at Rhoscrowther loomed ominously, with tankers moored up on its jetties.  A wander around the marina (with it's plentiful restaurants and bars) was nice with plenty of people enjoying a drink in the evening sun, and we took advantage of one of the aforementioned bars for a beer for me and G&T for my good lady. 

Milford Haven Marina

Wednesday dawned bright and sunny - not bad for the middle of September, and we set off for the 20 minute drive to Dale. Our plan was a 7 (or so) mile walk around St Anne's Head. We parked in the car park at Dale (thank goodness for phone paid parking - no more messing around for coins) and walked up towards Dale Point Fort, now a field studies centre, but previously part of several fortifications around the Haven put in place to defend the deepwater harbour from first Napoleon and latterly the Germans in WW2. Staying on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path we passed a tall navigation beacon just before the coming to the gorgeous Watwick Bay. This secluded bay on this sunny day could have almost been in the Caribbean. If it wasn't for the fact it's a bit of a hike to get there, it would be packed with beachgoers. We continued along the path to the West Blockhouse Fort, another fortification now a holiday rental and stopped for a coffee resting against one of three more tall navigation beacons as we looked over to St Anne's Head and light. All the while, tankers and ferries made their way busily in and out of the Haven. 

Watwick Bay

Continuing our walk we passed Mill bay where Henry Tudor landed just a couple of weeks before defeating Richard at Bosworth Field, and then onwards reaching St Anne's Head. Here the current light stands a small distance from one of the previous two lights, now used as a coastguard watch point. Our journey continued around the coast path and headland, before reaching Dale West beach, where we turned inland, back towards Dale where we treated ourself to an ice cream and cold drink. We were quite surprised how busy the place was both on the beach and on the coast path given it was well into September.

Tankers in the Haven, Stack Rock Fort and Dale from Dale West

After driving back to our base, we ate at the impressive Impasto Pizza Bar in the Marina which we'd booked the night before. Recommended if you're in the area and like Italian food. The pizza was first class, the service good and the beers great! In the dark on the walk back from the marina, the Valero Oil terminal was lit up and looked far more impressive in the dark than it's industrial daytime look, especially with the light from the flames from the exhaust chimneys bouncing off the lowish clouds.

Valero oil terminal at Rhoscrowther

The weather kept up as day 2 again dawned bright and sunny. We drove to Stackpole Quay where we parked in the large National Trust Car Park (for free as we're members!). The car park was already pretty busy by the time we arrived at 10am with walkers and beach goers and dog walkers. The NT cafe was open so we grabbed a sausage and bacon roll and coffee which we ate on a bench overlooking the quay watching a paddle boarding lesson taking place. From here it's a short hike up the hill and over to the stunning Barafundle Bay. We saw our paddle boarders on their way around to the bay in the flat calm conditions. We hadn't planned to walk far as we'd done a 7 miler the day before, but we did carry on all the way to Stackpole Head. The walking is easy but the cliffs here are pretty high and sheer, and there are climbing staked hammered in every few yards as evidence that this area is a haven for climbers, so it's best not to venture too close to the edge. As the sun cleared the haze, we could see across the bay to the Pembrokeshire beaches of Swanlake and Manorbier, and Caldey Island, off Tenby. In the far distance, still in the haze, the hills of the Gower and Rhossili Down in particular could be seen. From Stackpole Head, Lundy Island was also clearly visible rising out of the Bristol Channel off the North Devon coast. It's around 30 miles away in a straight line, but looked a lot nearer that that from high on the cliffs.

Barafundle Bay

The cliffs around Stackpole Head are stunning, and looking toward the west another fine beach, Broadhaven South with it's classic landmark Church Rock just off the beach could be seen. On the grassy headland, we saw several distinctive Chough with their bright red beaks and legs as well as Rock Pipits.

 

Cliffs near Barafundle

Wandering back to Barafundle, the beach now pretty busy, we settled down for a couple of hours chilling in the (by now) hot sun. A paddle in the sea cooled us down a little, before a number of people near us got quite excited when a snake (we think a grass snake) was seen slithering across the beach towards some rocks. It was around 2 feet long and moving pretty fast. It wasn't an adder, so I'm guessing a grass snake was the only other realistic option in the UK.  I managed to snap a photo or two and a short video. I think it's the only snake I've ever seen in the UK outside of a zoo.

The snake!

After that excitement, we walked back to the car, via the cafe for an ice cream, and then home. That evening, we again ate in the marina, this time at Martha's Vineyard which we'd pre booked before we came. Primarily a fish restaurant, it's got a quite broad menu. My wife had some huge garlic prawns to start followed by the house specialty bouillabaise whilst I had whitebait followed by a hanging kebab. The food was nice with some minor exceptions - a flatbread I had with my main was a bit like cardboard and the squid in the bouillabaisse was tough. That's being a bit picky though. Otherwise the food was great and the service excellent.

A stroll back to our base, and that was pretty much it for the break. The following morning on checking out we visited the marina for one last time to pop into a couple of the shops - there's a nice shop that sells home made chocolates (Trwffl), before driving home (and getting stuck in an enormous traffic jam at Carmarthen). 

All in all, we had a lovely time. A relaxing (apart from all the walking) break, in brilliant weather in one of the most beautiful parts of the county. 

We'll be back - again....