Peter Steward

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The Weekly Blog

Monday September 4th - Sunday September 10th

It has often been said that a week is a long time in politics. I think what they meant is that a week in politics can bore you rigid. This week we were subjected to the will he or won't he saga of whether Tony Blair is going to be replaced as Prime Minister and really it was a mind numbing affair.

The warring factions in New Labour have been sharpening their knives and it just proves one thing - people cannot get on with each other and live in peace. Rampant egos and an insistence in pushing your own views on other people always prevail. I have always argued that when two or more people get together in the same room any discussion will ultimately end in disagreement. It doesn't have to be that way. We should by now have learnt that it is as important to listen to another person's views as it is to put your own forward. Actually it's probably more important.

What New Labour don't seem to realise in all this is that we, the great British public, are heartily sick of the in fighting and the posturing that is going on. Most of us don't care whether Blair or Gordon Brown are prime minister. Ultimately it won't make a shred of difference.

I have a very low opinion of most politicians. Okay there are some good ones - Norwich's Ian Gibson springs to mind. I also have time for my local MP Richard Bacon. The majority, however, seem to be on massive ego trips to nowhere. Politicians need to realise that by and large they are disliked, virtually nobody believes their empty promises and almost nobody trusts a thing they say, particularly when Blair and Brown tell us that ultimately they will do what is right for the country. Ultimately they will do what is right for themselves.

And the Media fuel the whole thing with in depth analysis of the situation and we all get heartily sick of it all because, at the end of the day, most of us don't really care who leads Labour or any other party.

On a personal note this was another very busy week (I'm not sure what a quiet one looks like). Monday morning is beginning to get into a routine of updating football club matters and in particular the web site. I then set about cleaning and treating the decking at the bottom of the garden and then went to the gym.

I am determined to have two decent sessions a week and I do feel the benefit already. I don't seem to have the same level of tiredness and an hour running and cycling does seem to make me feel much stronger and alert. I can recommend it if you can get over the boredom. I used to have the same feelings many years ago when I was preparing to run a marathon. The thought of going out early evening in the knowledge that I would be running round the village for the next two hours was rather soporific to say the least. Matt and Emma came round for tea which was pleasant and myself and Anne went to Carrow Road for our third visit in six days to see Mickey play for Norwich Reserves against Colchester Reserves.

It was a decent game which ended 2-2. The Norwich team seems to be made up exclusively of Academy youngsters. It's difficult to tell at this stage whether any of them will make it as professional footballers. In the past a number of "discarded" academy players have ended up playing for Hethersett Athletic on a Sunday. Tonight, by his own admission, Mickey didn't have a particularly good game.

Way back in February I joined a walking group, which Anne was already apart of. We go out every second week on a Tuesday. The group take it in turns to organise the walks and Tuesday's was around the Salhouse area just outside Norwich. The five and a half mile walk concluded with lunch in the local pub. Again this is part of my efforts to get fit. I would also like to lose a stone in weight. I am at present hovering around the 12 stone mark which is a stone heavier than I would like to be. Problem is I love food and particularly snacks. I am now trying to limit myself to one main meal a day.

Much of the afternoon was spent in the garden which seems to have become a Tuesday chore. I don't enjoy doing it, but the alternative is to have a suburban wilderness and that's not really an option. I find my dislike of gardening rather strange as both my father and grandfather are and were keen gardeners to the extent of being leading lights in their local horticultural society.

I was glad when Liz and the girls came round from next door and stayed for a cup of tea. Liz so liked being my assistant at work that she and her husband moved in next door (well that's my side of the story anyhow). They have two children who are delightful.

On Wednesday I wrote in my diary "there was so much going on today that I couldn't keep track of it." I have entered the world of on-line share dealing purely as a bit of fun, buying up some low priced stock and investing very little just to see whether I can increase my investment. By the end of the week I was something like £7 down, which must be a message of some kind!

One of the things I love to do is what I term "a circle of the village" i.e going to various places in the centre. It is difficult to define the centre of Hethersett as it is situated on a long straight road with relevant buildings dotted along it. If you want to read about Hethersett I have a web site which can be accessed by clicking here.

Called into the doctors and chemists to pick up a prescription for Anne and then called at the library where Jenny, who is librarian and a friend, asked if I would take part in a club on the first Wednesday of the month for 14 years olds who wanted to review music and DVDs and produce a newsletter. "We were wondering where we could find an ex journalist who has some time" she said sweetly. And I melted!!!! It will be interesting as I spent years on newspapers reviewing music, literature, television and films.

I then called at the Middle School where I am chair of governors and had a chat with the head Andy Whittle. He showed me around the school and outlined his thoughts on new improvements that can be made when we move to a Junior School next year. It's quite a project. Basically next September we will be losing our Year Sevens and gaining Year Threes. This means a younger average age at the school and numerous changes. I have been a governor for about 14 years and chair for about eight. I have thought of retiring due to an inability to keep up with paperwork from county hall, but my heart is still in the school. I find I have to ignore the bureaucracy that exists and focus on why I am a governor - to help improve the standards of education and the management of the school. My association has given me tremendous satisfaction over the years, but it can be a very time consuming job. Put together the football club and governors and it amounts to a full-time but totally unpaid job!

I managed somehow to fit in a lunch with Matt who is on a week's holiday. Then I completed the decking work, although I ran out of stuff and had to mix some other together which gave the whole project a rather blotchy appearance. It was a very hot day and by the end I was literally dripping. I only have to see the sun to break out into sweat and we are having an Indian summer at the present time which shows no sign of abating. It's very different to March and April when you couldn't buy a warm day.

The evening was spent at music club which we also refer to as the plastic bag club. Basically many years ago a number of us got together to enjoy an evening every month just chatting and playing music. We have eclectic tastes and virtually every style is played. There are seven of us of which five are founder members which means over the years we have only admitted two new members - it's really exclusive. Only three rules - no committees, no officers and no money changing hands! It's referred to as the plastic bag club because we all turn up with CDs in - yes plastic bags.

Today's event was at the home of Ray Hannent and he showed a video recording of his very musically talented adult children. Katie was conducting a national schools' jazz orchestra in the Royal Albert Hall and Ian was featured in his rock band Lowstar on a Channel Five news item about downloading music from the Internet.

Wasn't amused on Thursday morning to receive a phone call to say our football club goals had been damaged overnight. Young vandals congregate on the playing field at night and seem to take great delight in destroying things. I really think the police need to adopt a zero tolerance stance on this kind of thing. That's what the public want to see. It just gives us more work to do.

After that popped into the village and then to Matt's to help him with his garden, which is now looking reasonably tidy. Went to the Queen's Head for another lunch with Mel Perkins and we chatted about football matters, life and the universe and that was followed by another session in the gym.

Before tea we popped round to see a friend - Judy Freeman - who has injured her back in falling downstairs and is waiting to see whether she will need an operation or not. After that I spent most of the evening relaxing and watching television - a rare occurrence.

Writing and music are my two main passions in life and on Friday morning I combined them by starting my web blog whilst listening to new releases on the excellent Napster site. Napster is now 100% legal and I pay a monthly fee to be able to listen to many of the new releases which I can then download to my MP3 player. They stay active as long as I continue with the subscription. It's a great way of hearing the new releases and when I bought my new computer this year I spent a little extra to have some surround sound speakers and am very glad that I did.

When I was at work I had a number of assistants and one of them - Linda Walsh - decided to retire and today was holding a leaving lunch at the Mulberry Tree in Attleborough. It was a select gathering and I turned it into a long drawn out one by sitting in the garden and chatting long after most of the party had returned to work. I feel more relaxed, calm and laid back than I have for a very long time - that's what retirement does for you.

During the evening went to Park Farm with Matt and Anne for an evening meal. Park Farm and the Queen's Head are owned by the same people and they sponsor our football team. So I like, whenever possible, to give them my custom.

The weekend was as busy as ever. House cleaning in the morning gave way to a visit to see Ron and the usual coffee and then an afternoon trip to Wymondham to see Matt play football. He has an ankle injury which restricts his movement but still managed to play the full 90 minutes of the Norfolk Senior Cup tie against Mundford. Wymondham came back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 and that means they have recorded five straight wins this season and look to have one of their best teams for many seasons.

At the end did some shopping in town and came home ahead of driving to Hempnall Village Hall where friends of ours - Trevor and Jane Bond - were being given a surprise 40th wedding anniversary party. We were all there ahead of their arrival. Sadly it was a mixed evening for them. There was the joy of the celebrations but this was tempered by the fact that Trevor's Uncle Sid is seriously ill in London. Sid was one of the original D Day paratroopers and part of the party that I visited the landing beaches with a few years ago. He was a real character and the news saddened me as well.

Sunday was dominated by Hethersett sport. Drove to Gorleston in the morning for an incredibly exciting County Cup First Round match against AFC Gorleston. A few seasons ago we reached the final of this cup and the lads played at Carrow Road - only to go down 5-0 in the final. They really would like to return to give a better account of themselves. Unfortunately in the first round they have been drawn against a very strong Gorleston side - so one of the best teams in the competition will fall at the first hurdle.

But both survive at the present time. We were 2-0 up at half-time but suffered a number of injuries and it was no real surprise when Gorleston came back to level at 2-2. We just didn't have the strength to hold out. Then deep into injury time we got a penalty but Danny Self fired wide. We had to play extra time with just 10 men thanks to injuries and looked dead and buried when Gorleston made it 3-2, only for Matt Barrett to pop up with an equaliser. We play the replay at home this coming Sunday.

Watching Hethersett is a very stressful occupation. Matt agreed as his ankle injury ruled him out and he was worried about making it worse as he starts his police job on Monday. We certainly missed his strength and composure but he was very "vocal" on the touchline. Twice I walked across two football fields to fill up water bottles. The players needed the liquid but above all I needed a break from watching and becoming so tense. Sport really gets to you.

The afternoon was sport of a different kind. We pootled (a good word that) over to Flordon to see a Hethersett cricket friendly which really was an end of the season irrelevant game that we won by five runs. Spent most of the afternoon sitting in the warn and reading.

And that really puts another week to bed. Hey another starts tomorrow!

Monday September 11th - Sunday September 17th

I watch very little television despite the fact that we have the full Sky package. My viewing is usually restricted to one shot of news per day (just to keep up with what's happening in the world, although most of it is quite depressing), sporting events (mainly football) and Coronation Street.

I have been a fan of "Corrie" for over 45 years and still remember the first ever episode in December 1960 when I was eight years old. My parents had gone out for the evening and I watched it with my grandmother. I had no idea what it was at the time or ever envisaged I would still be watching over four decades later.

This week I did catch a couple of programmes that I found very interesting for different reasons. Eastenders seems to have regained some of its sparkle and humour after years of seemingly having a never ending run of gangsters all trying to prove they are the "hardest" thing Walford has ever seen.

Hearing that Ross Kemp is returning as Grant Mitchell yet again is enough to make me turn the set off for good. But over the past two weeks there has been a thought provoking story line regarding the birth of a Down's Syndrome baby. It has been handled with great delicacy and proves that soaps can produce strong storylines. The feature last year with Nana and Alfie Moon returning to the Second World War battlefields was also poignant in the extreme and beautifully acted.

The latest situation is another heart-breaker. When a soap produces debate on a national arena it is certainly hitting the heart of a subject. I read an article this week about whether the depiction of the birth of the baby was realistic. One health professional stated that "the birth just wouldn't have happened like this" But this person is coming from the premise that everything in life works in a professional and effective way and we all know that this isn't true.

No matter how many "plans" and "strategies" an organisation has, when push comes to shove procedures are not followed whether it be because of the heat of the moment or a lack of care or because we are expecting more and more of our frontline staff in health, education and law and order.

The producers of Eastenders underline this point stating that whilst what has been depicted on the screen may not be best practice, reality and good drama do not necessarily come from best practice - food for thought.

The other programme I found interesting was Robert Lindsay's journey to trace his ancestry in "Who Do You Think You Are?" Lindsay is one of our best loved actors but on his own admission is a "very private person." The programme uncovered details about the war exploits of his grandparents that were interesting from both a personal and historical point of view.

Of course this programme is slightly unreal in as much as those portrayed have free access to records and enlist the help of experts who just seem to pop up at the right place in the right time. For us lesser mortals it is more of a matter of what we can find out for ourselves through leg work and the Internet. The programme went no further back in his search than his grandparents. This is the easy part as there are still those alive who can bring first hand memories to the research.

It is when you get back a few more generations that things begin to get even more interesting as Lindsay put it "There is no such thing as an ordinary family."

I also read in the paper that they are planning to enhance the walls around the city of Norwich and re-construct the gate that once stood at the top of St Stephen's. There is a considerable amount of improvement going on around the city and particularly along the river where modern flats are replacing some of the eyesores that fell into disrepair.

Whilst accepting that no reproduction can take the place of the original gates, the organisers should be applauded for attempting to bring our heritage back to life.

Everyday of course brings talking points and although this blog is centred around Norfolk in England and what is happening in the countryside and the nearby city of Norwich, much of what I talk about has much larger repercussions.

Such was the news on the front page of the local daily newspaper that Norwich Union is cutting 4,000 more jobs nationwide and 850 jobs in the city. I find this almost obscene as it is the second round of massive cuts put into place by the NU. It all comes under the guise of "restructuring" which is just a fancy word for cost cutting in order to make larger profits.

The obscenity comes in the total disregard that companies seem to have for employees. In the past companies had loyalty to employees and employees had loyalty to companies. This is long gone in a world that no longer cares, where men and women are totally dispensable and where there is no such thing as a "job for life."

And the biggest insult of all is the news that the Norwich Union is transferring 1,000 posts to India - obviously where labour is cheap and where the company can maximise their fat cat profits. We are told that half of the 4,000 redundancies will be compulsory. I accept that when redundancies are announced many people seize the opportunity to take the terms or early retirement but here people will be forced out with their jobs being transferred thousands of miles away.

Companies should make a commitment to employ staff as part of their service to the community. I'm not saying this should be done where a company is losing money, but we hear all too often of companies culling jobs and making obscene profits. But perhaps I'm just being naive.

The latest news from Norwich Union certainly makes a mockery of that annoying TV advert where they are asked to "quote me happy." At present I have no policies with the Norwich Union. If I had I would be cancelling them in the light of the latest news. Certainly in future any unwanted junk mail they send me will be parcelled up and sent straight back to them without a stamp!

And I know I'm not alone in stating that when I want a service I want it supplied by somebody at the end of a phone in the United Kingdom and not in India. This is not a racist remark but I, like so many other people, cannot understand what these employees are saying and I get very angry when they haven't even got a clue where Norwich or any of the surrounding towns and villages are. I do not want to have to spell out the name of the village where I live when the person I am dealing with should be at a desk just six miles away!

It amuses me how the management justify cutting staff and blame it on technology. I have always felt that technology should enhance the work carried out by employees and not replace them. The management are quoted as saying "We only have three costs - people, technology and buildings. As we spend more on technology, sadly we need fewer people and fewer buildings." So the march of the robots is underway and don't you just love the use of that word "sadly?"

On a more pleasant note Hethersett has been honoured at an official reception for winning the category for over 5,000 population in the EDP Pride in Norfolk Community Awards. The judges referred to it as having "a vibrant sense of community spirit and pride, a shining example of involvement and outstanding commitment shared across the generations". I echo that sentiment as we have been truly happy living here. If I could express a wish it would be that the village celebrates its successes a bit more, that the various groups work together more closely and that there is a greater recognition for sport and the work that is going on with young people in the village.

I know that the village is looking at the future of the Hethersett in Bloom competition. The village has some way to go to emulate the success of Filby near Great Yarmouth. I drove through it this week on the way to Great Yarmouth races and have to say it look resplendent. Great Yarmouth racecourse incidentally won the Best Industrial Area section of the Anglia in Bloom contest.

And finally in this comment section this week Bernard Matthews had a full page advert in the press stating that two men found guilty of causing cruelty to turkeys were not employed by the company but by sub-contractors. The company felt a custodial sentence rather than community sentence would have been more appropriate. The advert concludes "We will not and do not tolerate cruelty to any of our turkeys". I'm sure vegetarians will be interested in that statement!

The week itself was as busy as ever. Monday was spent catching up on various writing tasks and internet sites that I look after and in the afternoon I steeled myself for another visit to the gym (remember my twice a week promise to myself). There was a football club meeting in the evening which went very smoothly and people came up with some good ideas about promotions and sponsorship.

Tuesday was spent mainly in the garden. There is so much to do. A few years ago we had it landscaped with the idea of turning it into a pleasant low maintenance area. This has not happened as we have so many plants, bushes and shrubs that looking after them is becoming a difficult and time consuming job - and gardening is far from my favourite activity. During the day I also made contact with a number of friends on the phone and Matt came round to talk about his first day "on the Beat," which seems to have been very varied.

One of my interests in life is horse racing and on Wednesday I paid my first visit for some time to Great Yarmouth races. It really is a very pleasant little course. I bet reasonably small, have a pre-determined amount of money I am prepared to lose and usually find I break at least even. That was the occasion today as I found a 4-1 winner and also backed a 14-1 winner each way. It meant I had a good afternoon for little outlay.

Thursday morning I was up bright and early to visit the new breakfast club at the Middle School. We are very keen to develop the community aspect of school life and have set-up a club at the beginning and end of the day to engage children whose parents work.

It is all part of our extended schools ethos and it was nice to be part of it for an hour and then be invited back the following day when bacon rolls were on the menu. So I returned on Friday morning and then popped into Wymondham to pick up photographs. This is a retrograde step as we take everything now on digital Media but decide to have about 70 of our recent holiday printed out. I suppose using digital does give us the opportunity to select images we know will print out well.

Had Friday lunch with Mel Perkins at the good old Queen's Head and then chickened out of the gym, but did go on Saturday morning ahead of going into Norwich and having lunch outside at Cafe Morello - one of the best small cafes in the city. I have put together their web site and a few days ago received a message of congratulations from one of the customers who said it was much better than the web sites of the large coffee houses such as Starbucks. That's simple to explain. Starbucks' web site will be put together on an international basis whereas morellos is a small family owned concern with a small personal web site.

On Friday evening we had what is likely to be our final barbecue of the summer. Mickey and Georgia, Emma and Matt and myself and Anne pretended it was warm as we sat outside by candlelight as it got dark. We stayed out until the sweet course (hardy souls). After that Mickey and Georgia went out and the remaining four of us played cards for a while which turned into the usual competitive battle with Matt just pipping Dad to the win.

On Saturday after a bit of shopping (don't you just hate it) it was off to Carrow Road to see the dabacle that they call Norwich City football. This time we lost to an injury time goal from Crystal Palace and really we look like having nothing more than the mundane middle of the table season we endured last year. We are dropping down the league like a stone and the football is deadly boring.

Contrast that to the excellent Sunday morning match between Hethersett and AFC Gorleston. Last week the two sides produced a chaotic and totally enthralling county cup match and this week's was almost as exciting. This time we came from 2-0 down at half-time to score three times in the second half to win the tie. And our reward is another tough tie in the second round against Bohemians of Yarmouth. Watching Hethersett, and indeed Matt's Saturday team Wymondham Town, is so much more enjoyable than suffering the over coached and scared stiff players of Norwich City who seem to be taught not to express themselves and play to some diabolical formation which produces very little. Whatever happened to freedom of expression?

Monday September 18th - Sunday September 24th

I had to laugh when I heard of the problem encountered by Cherie Blair and the police investigation following her "playful cuff" of a schoolboy's ear after he had made a "bunny rabbit" sign above her head when being photographed with her.

So why did I find it funny? It wasn't the puerile childish behaviour of the schoolboy (that comes with his age) and it wasn't the fact that he poked gentle fun at Mrs Blair (or should we say Ms Booth).

No I found it amusing because Cherie has become a victim of husband (honest Tone Blair's) namby pamby society where you almost get investigated for getting up in the morning!

Since he has been Prime Minister, Blair has encouraged our over litigious investigative society where all the charisma and fun has been ripped out of life. Now Cherie has fallen foul of it. Now that certainly quoted me happy (see last week).

Every Monday morning brings the new music releases on Napster and that gives me the chance to listen to what's going on in the music world. This week I was listening to the new Elton John and Scissor Sisters CDS. The EJ seems on first listen to be immensely disappointing whereas the SS will take a few listens before I can make a reasonable judgement. Elton John seems to have submerged himself in syrupy sentimentality all based around his sexuality and I for one are sick of the man's posturings.

Then this week we had the Liberal Democrats' party conference where they proved they are no more honourable than the other two main parties. Don't you just love the snide asides made by politicians about other politicians. It's a matter of "we haven't got any policies so we'll just trash the opposition." Unfortunately that just turns most of the country against them all. They believe that silly childish side-swipes at the opposition are funny - I don't.

Take their leader Sir Minging Campbell this week. His jokes were obviously written by a script writer. Now Minging is no comedian and didn't that show as he took a pot shot at New Labour. I'm not quite sure why he bothered because New Labour seem quite capable of destroying themselves without any outside help (and when do they become old labour or just labour to their friends?).

So in order to "be funny" Minging adapted lines from famous hymns. I wanted to get this right so I copied this part of the speech from the Lib Dem web site. This is what he said.

And then there are to be Songs of Praise.
Details are top secret.
But in the best new Labour tradition, they have been leaked.
And this time, I have received a copy.

The hymns are definitely fit for purpose.

To start with, a hymn about new Labour’s current situation:
Oh Here us when we cry to thee, For Those in Peril on the Sea.

Then, to lift the spirits of the party faithful:
Oh, What a Friend we have in Gordon.

And finally, before the curtain falls, repentance:
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, Forgive our Foolish Ways.

Now this to me is exceedingly cheap. I am not a greatly religious person but I do respect the Christian ethos and I find using religion to gain cheap political points is quite offensive. This wasn't clever and it certainly wasn't funny!

Then we were subjected to the usual promises about honesty, fairness and substance rather than spin. Isn't that what New Labour were promising many years ago? And wasn't the last Lib Dem leader an alcoholic?

But enough of politics. How did my week go. Now that I have more time on my hands I more than fill it and the garden is certainly looking better for the additional attention. I have a love-hate relationship with gardening. I enjoy it to a point once I'm out there but tearing myself away from the computer is a difficult task. Then I always get very hot and uncomfortable. Still the end justifies the means.

So at the time of writing it's all pretty neat and tidy and I have the luxury of looking for things to do rather than having a long list of what needs to be done. My problem with gardening is it never stands still. Once you have completed the weeding and cut the lawns that should be the end to it. But the grass and weeds soon grow again and you're back to square one before you know it. Friends say "but you're happy spending hours writing on the computer" to which my answer is "yes but when I write something it stays written, I don't have to write it again the following week." Hope you understand my logic there.

Still gardening can be therapeutic. I try to work in periods of one or two hours and listen to my MP3 player while I do it. That at least makes it vaguely enjoyable. The problem is that people visiting will admire what's been achieved and I will get that horrible label "oh he's a keen gardener" which is just not true. I like things to look nice, but it is a struggle at times.

Another thing is with my new found freedom there is no need for me to get up so early. So what do I do. I get up earlier than ever. That is good. It means I have things to do and I am keen to do them. No lounging in bed for me.

Monday brought heavy early rain which eventually relented and I was able to do some gardening in the morning. Had lunch with the Head of Hethersett Middle School and then we returned to school to talk about matters coming up ahead of next week's first full governors meeting of the new year.

I have been a governor at the school for something like 15 years and chair for something like nine. I do enjoy it, although it's virtually impossible to keep up with either government policy on education or the amount of information coming out of county hall. Being chair of governors needs to be a full time job but the country relies on volunteers. I concentrate on the school rather than the legislation aspect of things. I am more interested in the quality of education and how much staff enjoy working there - and I probably don't put as much into that as I should.

I do enjoy working in the local community. I am a firm believer that if people look after their own communities everything else slots into place. On the way home I stopped at Ron's to have a chat and it was warm enough to sit in the garden.

Tuesday was a walking day and this one started at Surlingham and took in part of Surlingham Broad and ended with a lunch at the Ferry Boat Inn where the service was slow but the food was fine.

Late afternoon I had a drink at Park Farm with Julie Moule who used to be one of my assistants at work. Julie has kept in touch and we often meet for a chat.

I love technology but sometimes I get angry and frustrated by it. Recently my video "blew up" and is now in pieces in the garage. So on Wednesday I tried to work out how to use the DVD recorder we rent. The booklet tells us it's simple to use but of course you need a degree in physics to understand how to work it. Consequence was I wiped out the television and eventually gave up in frustration and had to sort it out the following day more by luck than judgement!

Another one of my gripes in life is how when a company or organisation "stuffs up" it ends up with the individual having to sort things out. A case in point comes from our summer holiday cruise. I got caught up in one of their art auctions and bought more paintings than I really wanted or needed.

During the week the art company, which is based in Florida, called to say the agreement they had with the Norwegian Cruise Line had come to an end and they would not be honouring the orders and we should reclaim our money from NCL. This seems a strange state of affairs as we had an idea that all was not well when one of the auctions on the boat was cancelled "due to unforeseen circumstances" and the auctioneer was on our plane back to England.

I don't know exactly what happened but we are left to pick up the pieces and to try and get our money back. NCL apparently take the money for the art auctions and pass it on to the art dealers, presumably less their commission. Now we have to claim our money back from NCL with the art company washing their hands of it. When we do get the money back we will be cancelling our order.

It always seems to be the victims that suffer. I use the word victim loosely as we haven't suffered any physical violence, just temporary loss of funds. When our son was the subject of an unprovoked attack in Norwich, his attacker was arrested and found guilty of assault. As a result of the incident our son had to have almost £700 of dental work. The victim was given six months to pay the money in instalments. The victim (our son) had to pay immediately as dentists won't take monthly instalments. I don't think there's any need for comment on that one!

Myself and Matt are members of Cringleford Tennis Club which has a number of excellent all weather courts just five miles from where we live. This year we have found it impossible to find time to play and Thursday brought our first game of the season. We are hoping now to play through the autumn. Matt now beats me, mainly through power and his fitness, but I don't think I do bad at my age to be able to still give him a competitive game. I keep telling him that I taught him everything he knows about tennis, cricket and football (that's not really true of course).

On Friday evening we had a pleasant meal round friends and on Saturday we went on the Hethersett Churches Together trip to Lincoln. It was a long, but interesting day. Anne was leading and organising it and so felt responsible for what went wrong. there were only a few modest mistakes, however. The driver had never been to Lincoln and couldn't find a way to the Cathedral. A number of us knew the way but we didn't interfere as we assumed he knew a short cut when he started to go straight through the centre instead of round the ring road.

I find it unbelievable that a coach company can send a driver out without directions to get to his destination, particularly in these days of sat navigation and the Internet. The coach was hot, stuffy and uncomfortable as well, so different to the spacious air conditioned one used during our Canadian travels.

Being a church trip, much of the day was centred around Lincoln Cathedral and we had a very interesting hour long tour after lunch. It is a fascinating building with seemingly as many pagan symbols as Christian ones and the Chapter House was used for the filming of Ron Howard's Da Vinci Code film. The wall frescos were all painted by the film-makers and are a copy of those in Westminster Abbey. Westminster refused to allow filming as the book departs quite considerably from the beliefs of the Christian Church believing that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had a son and that their blood line exists today. The book suggests that the Holy Grail is this bloodline and not the chalice from the Last Supper.

It is interesting that Lincoln Cathedral allowed filming of the book as they felt it was just a story. They do disagree of course with its hypothesis but were still happy to have part of the film shot there. Looking at things cynically the fat fee they received probably helped and begs the question what is a sell out and how far should an organisation go before it truly sells out? I'm not saying it was wrong of the Cathedral to take part. That is something I would have to think about long and hard before coming to a conclusions as I can see merit to both sides of the argument.

Whatever the conclusions, it was a good day and an enjoyable visit to one of the country's most attractive cities.

Football dominated Sunday as it usually does. Going to Carrow Road to watch Norwich City is a soporific pastime that can border on the decidedly boring. Watching Hethersett is the opposite. In fact watching Athletic can seriously damage your health. After the excitement of the previous two weeks' cup matches, it was back to league action with a visit to Acle. We knew it would be a hard game as Acle have a very strong attack and fielded former Norwich City player Adrian Coote.

We weren't prepared, however, for another nerve tingling match which saw us race into a 3-0 lead only to be pegged back to 3-3 before scoring a winner. We were less than impressed by the intimidating nature of the Acle management and fans and the fact that their linesman coached players throughout the game and immediately put his flag up for offside whenever their players appealed.

Our linesman - Laurie Appleton - is scrupulously fair in everything he does and certainly doesn't coach from the sideline. When we pointed this out to the referee he had a word with the linesman but their manager seemed to think there was nothing wrong with it. Still at the end of the day we got the points. The win was very important to kick start our season after losing our opening match. Two consecutive defeats would have put a massive dent in our title chances. I imagine we are still well down the league as most of the other sides will have played one and two matches more than us.

Back on the Norwich City situation - they lost away from home again and it really is time the manager Nigel Worthington was replaced. We are slipping down the league at an alarming rate and showing no real signs of life. This week "Nutty Nigel" as he has been dubbed by a local sports paper outdid even himself. In the Carling Cup away match at Rotherham on Tuesday night he brought in a number of young players. Apparently Robert Eagle had a good game on the wing and Ryan Jarvis scored twice as the team actually won. So what did "Nutty Nigel" do? He promptly dropped all the youngsters and replaced them with Craig Fleming (aged 34) and Dion Dublin (aged 37) and we promptly lost. Now it doesn't take a genius to see what a disaster this man is. The team are over coached, lacking in ability and truly struggling. Note to Nigel: Bring in the young players otherwise I might at 53 apply for a game myself!!!!!

Much of Sunday afternoon was spent watching Europe hammer the USA in the Ryder Cup. There was some inspired golf from the Europeans who seemed to genuinely get on well and play as a team. It was very poignant to see Darren Clarke be so successful just weeks after his wife died.

It was wonderful to see the sportsmanship that existed between the two teams and the fact that golf still seems to transcend the yob culture and remains a game for gentlefolk.

Isn't it strange how American sport has dipped. They no longer rule the world in either golf or tennis and it's only in their own made-up sports such as American Football and Baseball that they still claim to be world champions and that's more down to the fact that virtually no other countries play the sports. How the mighty are fallen. Whilst the golf was on we had tea and cakes with Nick, Liz and their two daughters from next door.

And that was virtually how the week scanned out.

PS Decided after a number of listens that the Scissor Sister album is decidedly ordinary.

Monday September 25th - Sunday October 1st

As I sat in my study on Wednesday morning I had to put on a pullover, the first sure signs that the summer is on the way out and autumn is almost upon us. Sad in many ways, but I do prefer the cooler weather.

At the beginning of the week there was news of the death of composer Malcolm Arnold who lived in Norfolk and I believe had the distinction of being banned from a number of pubs in the county due to his behaviour.

Arnold had a reputation for being irascible which I always think is a good word. There is no doubting that his music was boisterous, uplifting and fun if a trifle fiddly. My favourite Arnold story came many years ago when I was having a Christmas lunch with work colleagues at a Norwich Hotel. Arnold was bashing away at the piano in an obviously inebriated state.

"Who the hell is that drunken old fart at the piano" said one of our number to the barman.

"That Sir is this country's greatest living composer," replied the barman.

"Yeah and I'm Mahatma Ghandi," said our colleague.

Still play The Padstow Lifeboat and you have to forget all that nonsense - it's so good.

Back to politics. I promise to give it a rest soon but this week saw the Labour party conference where Honest Tone at last conceded that he had no future as prime minister and party leader and Gordon Brown regaled us with stories of his childhood and the values instilled in him by his parents. Obviously Cherie Blair wasn't quite in tune with these sentiments, allegedly referring to Brown as a liar.

Whether the "alleged" comments of our first, soon to be well down the list, lady were taken out of context or whether they were pre-meditated and deliberate is open to debate. I have always believed that in the world of spin there is no better spinner than a spouse or partner strategically placed to deliver the killer comment and let's face it Blair has certainly surrounded himself with Spinners with the likes of Mandelson and Campbell.

I'm not 100 per cent sure about Brown. His speech did seem to have an honesty about it but will his actions have any substance or will it be more New Labour froth. Only time will tell. I sincerely hope that he can bring some of the honesty back to the position of prime minister and lose at least some of the spin. Message to Gordon - "leave the spin to Shane Warne, he's so much better at it."

Aren't birthdays a terrible thing once you enter Middle Age? If it's not bad enough to be middle aged you realise that there's pretty much nothing that you want or need. So when relatives ask "what would you like for your birthday?" it becomes a stressful question.

Anne's birthday is next week and mine the week after but neither of us can think of a single thing we want. I used to go for CDs every time, but now I can download (legally) everything from Napster to my MP3 player I am no longer really interested. I was interested to see the second part of Stephen Fry's programme on manic depression on television last night when he went on shopping binges, buying thousands of pounds worth of items he didn't need just for the initial buzz it gave him.

When I went shopping in Norwich on Tuesday I returned with one evening newspaper. The last time I went shopping in Norwich I returned with even less. So I wonder what the opposite of compulsive buying disorder is? Women of course like to window shop. They seem happy to wander aimlessly round shops all day with no intention of buying. Us chaps target what we want to buy, purchase it as quickly as possible and are on our way.

Shopping with a wife can be a nightmare of almost epic proportions. How many women's clothes shops can one man be expected to endure in one afternoon? and what about the shopping shuffle. You know the one where you follow your beloved in shuffling circles around clothes rails only to find they eventually buy the dress/skirt that they saw three hours earlier at the first shop you went into!

And sales are annoying. The whole year is now a sale. We used to have genuine January sales. Now we have spring sales, summer sales, schools' out sales, return to school sales, autumn bargains, pre Christmas and post Christmas blues breaker sales, New Year bargains, Valentine lovelies, Easter offers, summer holiday brighteners. You name it we have a sale for it. And most are billed as "our biggest sale ever." The way they try to outdo themselves they could soon be paying us to take the stock off their hands. I think we should have a sale in reverse. Something along the lines of two for the price of three.

Some shops simply have a laugh by telling you that their offers "will never be repeated" or "only two days to go, buy now before it's too late." Who are they kidding. Everyone knows this sale will be replaced within a week or two by the "once in a lifetime, greatest sale ever."

So next time you see a bargain, don't rush to buy it as it is likely to be an even bigger bargain a couple of weeks down the line. Basically anything they can't sell will continue to be discounted in price - that's simple economics.

It seems strange to me that we are hearing about more Eastern Europeans coming into the country looking for work due to wages being so much higher than in their own countries. It's ironic when you think about it. We make British people redundant and move their jobs to call centres in India and then import Eastern European Labour to work in this country!

I read in the local newspaper this week that Simon Cowell is the highest paid reality TV judge and earns £18 million a year. Apart from the fact that this is obscene, it does show where Cowell gets his nasty side from. After all you wouldn't get £18m for being Mr Nice would you?

The news took me back to my days involved in the entertainment world in Norfolk as a journalist. I tried to recall some of the people I met and remember being on the panel for a Norfolk rock band talent show. It was an all day affair and took place I believe at one of the holiday camps. On the panel with me was the original Mr Nasty - Clifford Davies who I believe was entertainment writer for the Mirror Newspaper. Clifford was one of the first talent judges on television to say exactly what he thought and this made him unpopular. I can't remember the exact television show he was on but it came after Opportunity Knocks.

I took the opportunity of asking him why he had agreed to do a relatively small event such as this "it would have been churlish not to" was his reply. So probably he wasn't as nasty as he came over. Can the same be said about Mr Cowell?

On the same panel was Norfolk entertainer Carl Adams who seemed to pop up all over the county. I also remember talent competitions at the Talk of East Anglia in Oak Street, Norwich, which were usually hosted by dear old David Valentine. Valentine was a stage name taken from his idol Dickie Valentine. David always struck me as a very shy man once the microphone wasn't in his hand.

Probably the entertainer I remember the most vividly was Steve King, a northerner who did George Formby and Al Jolsen impressions and spent one summer season at Cromer Pier Pavilion. I got quite friendly with Steve as his enthusiasm for what he did shone through like a beacon. He came to a number of parties at the flat I shared with two other guys and would hold centre stage there as well and when we went back occasionally to the hotel where he was staying he would be in the bar entertaining the other guests.

My work in the pop music field brought me into contact with a number of star musicians but that's for another day. I would like to finish this section with two other entertainers, the names of which probably won't mean anything to those under the age of about 45. The first was Lance Percival who I met at Lowestoft. Lance was a lovely guy and we talked mainly about football. He was a big Chelsea fan. The other ranks as the hardest man I ever had to interview. He was a calypso singer by the name of Cy Grant who was often seen on the BBC.

This was many years later when he wasn't quite so "famous". He was staying at the Flixton Buck near Beccles in Suffolk and I was working at Beccles at the time. The landlord was keen to get publicity and so invited me along to meet and interview Mr Grant. I assumed he had okayed it with the subject.

When I did get to meet him I found him a difficult subject. He was obtuse almost to the point of rudeness, refused to answer questions about his career or himself and just wanted to talk about philosophy. As that wasn't why I was there I got out as soon as I could. Today I would probably have stayed for hours talking theory and practice with the guy.

So what were the highlights of another very busy week? Did lots of work on behalf of Hethersett Athletic Football Club and that culminated in a very good article in the Evening News on Wednesday by Milton Lindsay whom I used to work with when I was sports editor of the Norwich Mercury Series.

I was quoted on behalf of our Men's First team as saying "We don't do boring matches" and that was certainly the case on Sunday when we drew 2-2 with Aylsham Sunday after twice being behind. There were no goals until the 75th minute and then we saw three of the best goals you are ever likely to see in a space of four minutes. They were all shots from over 20 yards out and into the top corner of the net. That put Aylsham 2-1 up but we didn't deserve to lose and managed an equaliser when my son Matt headed home from close range following a corner. Matt is becoming a very accomplished player at this level and had an outstanding match with two perfect tackles in the penalty area as Aylsham threatened to score early in the match.

From the sublime to the ridiculous. I had to rush home to get changed to go to Carrow Road to see the debacle that is Norwich City. We lost 4-1 to Burnley and it was a shambles. The Gods were obviously unhappy because as we left the stadium the thunder and lightning started and we got drenched. We had tickets for the players lounge and took a friend and his two daughters with us and they were delighted to get plenty of autographs from the players.

The atmosphere was downbeat and we felt very sorry for a young Everton player on loan. Paddy Byrne was ignored by all the rest of the players and sat on his own. It doesn't say much for teamwork and it was no surprise when a couple of hours later we heard that manager Nigel Worthington had been sacked.

Worthington did an awful lot for the club in getting them into the Premier Division in the good old days. But it's been pretty much downhill for the last couple of seasons and he was well past his sell by date. It needs new blood and a manager who can weed out the dross, bring some new life to the club and who is prepared to give the younger players a fair go instead of including players in the team who are in their mid to late thirties.

Much of the rest of the week was spent "working" 12 hour days on web sites, football club newsletters and governors matters and we had the first governors meeting of the new school year at the Middle School on Wednesday Evening. Also had a meeting on behalf of the football club with the Playing Field Committee which should improve the relationship between the two organisations.

Friday brought the first table tennis match of the season. I still manage to turn out for Hethersett Methodist Church in the Norwich League Division Five. I would call myself an average player who is unable to raise his game when he comes up against a decent player.

Tonight's home match was against an unknown quantity in a new team Shelly Telly. It was an enjoyable evening and I won one singles and the doubles with young Matt Molloy. I lost my second singles against a good player from the opposition. Overall we won 8-2 which gave us maximum points and a good start. I won't be available all season but we have about eight players to call on.

On Saturday Ron Baker's son Andrew got married to Mandy at the Methodist Church and we went along to the ceremony and then the evening party which was excellent. Andy's brother Keith is part of a rock n roll group Johnny and the Checkers. They often get together for special events. They are superb and it was great to listen to a good live band rather than the usual sterile disco. As a consequence we stayed much later than we normally would have.

Advance to the October 2006 Blog