Friday morning and the temperatures had – as predicted – dipped some way below zero. The heating was cranked up whilst a downed a warming cuppa.
There was the usual mopping up of
the condensation to be done – it happens on pretty much every winter trip. The
windows were dripping and condensation had gathered on the shelf in the corners
under the front windows. Several sheets of kitchen roll were duly deployed.
The first time it happened years
back sent me into mild panic, thinking that dear old Patsy was leaking, would
be ravaged by damp and eventually collapse around us. Thankfully Trev had
thought it through and realised what was going on!
The next item on the agenda was a
bit of cleaning and given that my guest was due to arrive mid-morning I needed
to get shift on. After checking that the jacketed Aquaroll hadn’t frozen I
extracted Henry from the car – Henry is the eponymous vacuum cleaner in case
you were wondering, not a young hunky manservant. I certainly wouldn’t have
kept him in the car all night!
It wasn’t long before I had the
call to say Sandra was approaching. Her SatNav had thrown a strop so I guided
her in over the phone. Sandra:
“I was to arrive on the Friday
morning and duly set off in good time.
Of course overnight, temperatures had dropped considerably and there was
a severe frost. Fortunately once on the main roads, they were well gritted, and
progress was good. I had decided to drive on this occasion, not least because
of the train situation, but I also had a number of parcels etc., which would
not have been possible to take on the train. I arrived just in time for a most
welcome cuppa and a chance to thaw out. The temperature continued to drop most
of the day, so apart from a trip to the local supermarket and a visit to the
grave of Richard’s Mum to place flowers, we relaxed and kept warm in the van.”
The mum of a colleague makes beautiful
wreaths and for the last few years I’ve bought one to place on Mum’s grave at a
little churchyard just up the road in Teversham. I no longer feel the need to
visit every year but if I’m here I will. It’s a peaceful place and always a
good time for a few moments’ quiet reflection. Sandy very kindly laid some flowers too.
I’m no fan of supermarket shopping – the vast majority of the time at home I use Click & Collect, topping up with bits from the local Co-Op. The minute I enter one I can feel my blood pressure rise and the thought of visiting one in the run up to Christmas was hardly edifying. However it was necessary and thankfully we were in and out fairly quickly, any potential coronary averted.
Sandra:
“Richard had kindly made a
sausage casserole for us to eat for dinner that evening, it is one of his
specialties and very enjoyable. It was then time to get ready for the first of
several events planned for the weekend. We were going to see a concert by the Down for the Count orchestra in a university college theatre on the outskirts of
Cambridge. I came across this band a good few months ago now via the Internet.
They play music from the 1940s era and have a good following of people who all
spoke highly of the events. As we knew we were to be in Cambridge that weekend,
I realised that the dates coincided. This particular event had a Christmas
theme and there were a good number of very well known and loved Christmas songs
of that era. The theatre was well patronised and more by luck then planning,
other than requesting accessible seats, we probably had the best seats in the
house!
I approached Richard with the idea of attending the event, thinking it would be a fun start to the planned Christmas activities. Richard agreed and we both had a different but nonetheless very enjoyable evening.
It was fabulous and as Sandra
says, something different. The conductor was an entertaining and jovial host who
clearly loved his role. There were some great solo’s – both instrumental and
vocal and together the band produced a fantastic sound. Pre and interval drinks
were procured of course and at a fiver a round, considerably cheaper than I’m
used to paying at a theatre. Good on them.
Sandra:
“A very warm and cosy sleep in
Patsy brought us to Saturday morning – the frost and temperature was still very
much in evidence.
Two activities were planned
for today, the first one being my first ever football match attendance. We had
talked about this pre COVID and finally the day had arrived when we could go.
The fact that it was Richard’s old home team and somewhere he had not been too
for close on 30 years was an added bonus. Fortunately, I had come prepared, clothes
wise, for the event. I was ever so glad that I had done so. The full works of
base layers thermals and fleeces plus a blanket meant that I did not get too
cold.
I am pleased to report that
overall it was a most enjoyable experience. For me, watching and listening to
people was very amusing in a nice way. I saw and heard plenty of so-called armchair
experts and referees; the number of times that the ref was admonished and
comments along the lines of, should have gone to Specsavers, the polite version,
I lost count! The three gentlemen who were sat behind us were obviously long-term
supporters as there was a game of ‘one upmanship’ as to who could quote the
most statistics about each player, I certainly learned a lot on how far players
had run with the football for example.
Richard seemed to enjoy the match very much too, getting quite agitated
when they got near goal!”
It had been many many years since
my last visit to ‘The Abbey’. For a while in the early nineties I followed
Cambridge United almost religiously, having been introduced by Trev who had got
some free tickets. As it happens that first visit back in 1990 we sat in a
similar place and it was bitterly cold too, although a night game. The U’s demolished
Bristol City 5-1 in an FA Cup replay then and although there were no goals this
time it was still immensely enjoyable and great to be back. It’s something I’d
like to do a little more often, although to travel from the south coast makes
it a long and pricy outing.
Sandra:
“To the right of us it seemed
that 2 grandfathers had brought their grandchildren to the match. They
proceeded to shout, scream etc. for pretty much the whole time the players were
on the field. I can only imagine that they were hoarse and very tired by the
end of the match. Watching the grandfather’s enjoying the enthusiasm of the
grandchildren brought a smile to my face.
Another amusing anecdote......
we were by the players tunnel and two groups of school children had the honour
of waving quite large flags and poles to form a guard of honour for the players
as they entered the pitch. We both watched on bemused and commented that until
2 mothers, obviously chaperoning the children, made them stand at least 6 foot
apart. At the beginning before the players came out, they would have had to be
many a substitution for heads being poked and ears and eyes too! They started
off less than a foot apart, oh dear.
Finally the match, as I have said I am a complete novice where football is concerned so my observations are of a total outsider, so please bear with me. As we said at the time the final result was 0-0. Both teams had a fair number of chances each to score goals but neither side seemed to have a player who could finish their attempts on goal. Secondly the visiting team managed to acquire no less than 6 yellow card bookings. To me that was a disappointment as several of them were, to me, for very unsporting manoeuvres. To Cambridge’s credit they did not receive one. My only other observation was one which I totally unexpected, the number of times the football was in the air and at times it seems I had gone to see a head ball match. I remember watching TV with my father when watching a football match and players then seemed to run and dribble the ball keeping it on the ground the majority of the time Richard explained that this head balling is often a phenomena of the lower leagues these days.
We then made our way back to the car, the crowds being manageable for me and back to our disabled car parking space actually on the grounds, thankfully arranged by club and Richard.
We returned to Patsy for a warmup
and to get ready for the second event of the day, meeting a friend of Richard’s
Pauline for dinner at a local pub. It
has become something of a favourite, not least because of their delicious Waygu
burgers.”
The White Hart in Fulbourn can
usually be relied upon for a good meal and so it proved once again. It was sad
to see the restaurant side so empty, although there was a few in the bar
watching the footy – and later drowning their sorrows no doubt.
Pauline’s daughter Emma had invited
us around for drinks and she very handily lived next door to the pub. We had a
very enjoyable couple of hours playing Trivial Pursuit – a first for me. I was
somehow in with a chance of winning but got pipped at the post. It was gone
midnight by the time we got back to Patsy but it had been a very enjoyable day
and evening.