Tuesday 29 November 2011

Another Home game

A quick update before the match tonight. Three times we've played Sutton Coldfield before tonight and three times we have been beaten - on current form it will probably be 4/4 but football being that funny old game you never know - we shall see in about 5 hours time.
Yesterday we finished decorating the bedroom in the morning and then I went out on my bike for a 20 mile ride - it was cool in the wind but dry (more than can be said for this afternoon when we had about 30 minutes of very heavy rain and strong winds). Completed the ride in 1 hr 25 minutes. I'll try and get out again tomorrow for a few miles depending on what we decide to do.
Just after the rain I mentioned this afternoon I snapped this shot out of the bedroom window.
A football update later in the week.

Sunday 27 November 2011

Another Home game another Home defeat

Previously I joked about 'fortress Christchurch' well the home trouble goes on. Yesterday saw us host Carlton Town who have been having a good season so far (4th before kick off). An entertaining first half despite the 0-0 scoreline turned into a 0-2 defeat thanks to former Belper player Ruben Wiggins-Thomas scoring both goals in the last 12 minutes. Photos from the game are here: Belper v Carlton photos
Isn't it wonderful how these old folks have taken to modern technology
This morning we started decorating the bedroom. Three walls in Laura Ashley Soft Truffle paint. Tomorrow we'll do the other wall with wallpaper and then hopefully I can get out on my bike for a quick ride round as the forecast for the two days after that are not looking 'bike friendly' - guess I'll have to put the turbo trainer together and try that.
Sad to hear the news today that the Wales manager Gary Speed was found dead at the age of 42. The radio were reporting that he had apparently taken his own life, which if it is true is a tragic ending to a man who was still playing professional football up to a couple of seasons ago. 

Saturday 26 November 2011

Carlton come to town

After meeting them 3 times in two weeks earlier in the season we have a visit from our friends from Carlton Town today. They beat leaders Ilkeston in midweek to sit 4th in the table so a tough game is ensured. So far there have been over 20 goals in the three games we have played this season so today will either be another goal fest or possibly a 0-0 draw just to contrast the previous matches.
Will be good to see Simon & Tim Harris (assuming they both make the trip) - and yes would you believe Tim is the club photographer too !
Yesterday we went over to Decathlon as planned and I picked up the Satori pro trainer at the nock down price of £129.99 - all I need to do now is work how how to put it together ! 
next issue I'll have is if I set the trainer up with the Peugeot then I won't have a bike to go out on if it rains - oh well I guess I'll just have to buy another bike then...
In the afternoon I did some real bike riding. The weather was a mix of sunshine and showers so I took the Peugeot out rather than the Boardman. Did my 15.5 mile circuit through Little Eaton and the Chevin. Time ? 1 h 8 m 12 s with a headwind for parts and some rain too. 
Thats it for this update - need to go and sort some dinner out before heading off to the aforementioned match.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

A win at last

Although I didn't make the trip (or possibly BECAUSE I didn't make the trip) to Goole, I watched the game on text. They (the texts and goals) came quite quickly to begin with, 1-0 Wright, 2-0 Froggy, 3-0 Longstaff. 3-0 at half time and game over. As so often turns out that was the end of the scoring. A 3-0 away win is impressive whoever you are playing and a long trip to Goole on a cold night was even better.
Sets us up nicely for a visit from our friends at Carlton on Saturday.
Tonight I got out on my bike for the first time in a week (missed Friday due to the trip to Stratford and Monday because I was at the Nuffield). Completed my 7.5 mile circuit in 31m 23s one of my better times. in fact just 10 seconds behind my fastest time for that particular circuit.
I read in a cycling magazine that as we get older we have a tendency to cycle slower in a bid to ride further. One thing that sticks in my memory was the sentence "as we get older we cycle slower because we cycle slower" and it's true that its psychological. I need to remember that there is no reason that I can't cyce as fast as I used to - faster even thanks to the new lighter bike and better wheels and tyres. Obviously I can't cycle as fast for as long but I need to be ensure I try a bit harder rather than giving in and admitting defeat on the grounds of age.
Off to Decathlon on Friday, one of the things I'll be looking at will be an indoor trainer to ensure I can keep riding my bike when the really bad weather kicks in like last year. I see they have one on offer at £130 reduced from £170 hopefully there will be some left - watch this space and find out.

Monday 21 November 2011

Interest addition to the Programme Collection

A couple of game back I was given a few old Belper Town programmes by a chap at the ground who I know by sight and to talk to but don't know his name.
There was only one that wasn't already in my collection (currently standing at 2009) but one interesting find amongst them was this one:
Nothing special in the programme sense, just a typical 1960's issue from Belper. An A4 sheet folded into three and printed on coloured paper. What makes it interesting, at least to me, is the date. 31st August 1963. Not only my birthday but my actual DAY of birth. As far as I am aware I was born at 3pm on that Saturday so just as Belper were kicking off against the Tulips I was making my entrance into this world - bit of a coincidence don't you think ? For those who are interested Belper won 4-2 with goals from Lakin, Wallbank, Jones & and own goal.
After work today I visited the Nuffield Hospital again and had the Exercise Tolerance Test (or treadmill). The results were as expected, the ectopic beats disappear as the heartbeat increases so exercise is not a problem. I was given the all clear as such and advised to contact the Cardiologist again if any other other symptoms turn up - sounds good to me.
Tomorrow is the trip to Goole - still haven't decided whether to go or not, I'll decide tomorrow.

Sunday 20 November 2011

Another Defeat

It appears I didn't miss a lot by missing the trip to Market Drayton. A 3-0 defeat to a side below us in the table is poor - although a new manager has seen an upturn in their fortunes of late (we've been there, done that etc). Instead it was an afternoon putting the garden to bed for the winter, listening to the football on the radio and watching the texts coming through from Shropshire.
Next up is a Tuesday night trip to the Victoria Pleasure Grounds of Goole - not sure if I am going to make the trip yet or not. 
In the evening we were out at Derby Assembly Rooms watching Vin Garbutt. As always it was a great show from Vin - never seen anything else in all the times we have been going to see him live. 
The show finished at 10:35 and we had the 'pleasure' of walking back through Derby Town centre on a Saturday night to get back to the car. The sights you see are unbelievable - or is it just that I'm getting old ?
Talking of getting old - tomorrow night I have my treadmill test at the Nuffield Hospital - hopefully that will be the end of the tests etc. My Cholesterol came back as 5.6 which is above where we'd like it to be but better than expected. No bike riding tomorrow due to the trip to the hospital so Wednesday looks like the next time I'll be peddling round Belper.

Saturday 19 November 2011

Remembrance Sunday

It was a week ago now but I thought I'd just post this photo I took on Sunday morning. Although it's not a red one it is a poppy, growing in our garden on Remembrance Sunday (November 13th 2011)


Friday 18 November 2011

Stratford Upon Avon

A cracking day in Stratford even though the weather wasn't brilliant. Met up with Ron & Pam, Ron was as entertaining as he ever was on the holiday. After a walk around the marina we had a look in the Royal Shakespear Company hall and then went for an Italian meal just around the corner. Ron told us about the time he was doing 160 mph on his motorbike. He looks the most unlikely person in the world to be riding motorbikes at over 150 mph but what an entertaining man he is. I will upload some photos including the biggest gathering of swans i've ever seen in one place.
Typical Stratford scene

Even the Bank is Olde Worlde

The Royal Shakespeare Company Swan Theatre

Swan fountain

Looks like someone is getting very wet

Count the swans

View up the River Avon

View from the RSC

The RSC Tower

Waiting for the Ice Cream Barge to open

Out of another cup

Tuesday saw us beaten in the Doodson Cup by Worksop Town. A 3-1 defeat after extra time ended another cup run leaving just the Derbyshire Senior Cup left this season. 
Peter Duffield fielded a much changed side with the likes of 'Purito' and new boys Greg Knight and Jordan Turner in the starting 11.
A cracking goal from Jordan equalised another early goal Belper had conceded (3 minutes again). The scores stayed the same until the full time whistle so it was extra time. Two goals from the Tigers (one a dubious penalty, one a suspiciously looking offside goal at the death saw them through.
Photos are here: Belper v Worksop 
As previously mentioned I'm not going to Market Drayton tomorrow as we're out tomorrow night seeing Vin Garbutt. So no photos from the game from me. 
Today we're off to Stratford upon Avon to meet up with Ron & Pam who we met on the Treyn holiday earlier in the year. They live in Reading so thats about half way between the two. Hopefully it'll stay dry as the forecast says and we'll have nice stroll around the park - i'll let you know what happens.

Sunday 13 November 2011

Fortress Christchurch ? - Not at the moment it's not.

Another home game and another home defeat - it's getting like the old days down at Belper. A goal down after just three minutes and two down after about twenty was always going to make it hard to get anything out of a game against the side starting the day in 2nd place.
Having said that Belper put up a real battle in the 2nd half and just about deserved a point, but as I have said before you don't always get what you deserve in this game.
Lest We Forget
We started with a minutes silence as the game fell between Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday - not surprisingly it was impeccably observed - well apart from one rather loud lady who came from behind the stand obviously not realising what was happening, she was soon told to be quiet.
One bright note was the performance of Jordan Turner who cam e on as a 2nd half sub. He really injected some pace up front and deserves a starting place on Tuesday in my mind. The photos are here: Belper v Stamford
Next up - Worksop Town in the Doodson League Cup on Tuesday night. Former Nailer Mickey Harcourt scored a last minute equaliser for Matlock against them today - if Mickey H can score against them ANYONE must be able to (sorry Mickey couldn't resist that one).

Friday 11 November 2011

400 Up

No game this midweek due to our loss at Cuzon Ashton and Leek (our scheduled opponents having an FA Trophy replay thanks to a 90th minute equaliser on their part).
Got out on the bike Monday evening - what a horrid night that was too. Went on the Peugeot to try out the new mudguards for the first time, they did a cracking job of keeping the wet stiff off the bike and more importantly me !
Wednesday another miserable night although just about dry after a damp old day. Again the Peugeot was the bike of choice and that 7.5 miles was enough to click up 400 miles since I returned to cycling in July. Next target is obviously 500, averaging about 30 a week so should just about do it before the end of the year weather permitting (I know I'll miss the big Friday ride next week due to a trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon. Might be touch and go if the weather kicks in like it did last year about this time (well actually it won't because that will be the end of the cycling if the snow returns).
This morning I went to see the Cardiologist who agreed that I had quite a lot of irregular heartbeats (ectopics as we call them in the trade) but wasn't too concerned about them (easy for her to say they're not HER ectopics). I had high blood pressure so I need that monitoring and I have to have a Cholesterol check due to a family history of hyper- cholesterol. I also have to have an exercise tolerance test (or treadmill test) to check what happens when I exercise - that should be interesting given my heart gets up to about 170 bpm when I'm attacking some of these hills on my rides.
Talking of rides I was given the all clear to carry on cycling - which will be good news to Ken, you can stop worrying now Dad ;-). With that in mind I went out of the Boardman this afternoon and racked up another 20 miles in 1 hr 22 mins. Pulse hit 173 on the way back up Mill Street, A really miserable day today with drizzle and light rain but the new coat (see previous blog re new cycling jacket) was great - worth every penny !
Tomorrow it's another home game - against 2nd placed Stamford. NTLM has left the club citing 'internal politics' as his reason for leaving whereas the manager has suggested he was being paid too much to not score enough goals - not in those exact words but reading between the lines...
Off to Andys for some (not so healthy) Bangers & Mash - will have to check the Cholesterol content first tho..
More after the game

Sunday 6 November 2011

Private Peaceful

Just got back from a surprise trip to see Private Peaceful at the Derby Assembly Rooms. What a fantastic show - I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's the story of two brothers who go off to fight in the first world war. One of the brothers is eventually shot for cowardice for refusing to leave a bunker in no mans land for a certain death. The story is told by author Michael Morpurgo from the point of the younger brother (Thomas Peaceful) as he spends the night before his elder brother Charlie faces the firing squad at 6am. He spends the night recalling their lives from childhood. Interspersed with the narrative are acapella songs from local group acapella group Coope, Boyes and Simpson.
Although it was dark in the auditorium it was obvious that there were tears being shed as Michael described how Charlie walked out to face the firing squad, singing Oranges and Lemons as he went.
I hear that it is being made into a film - it is likely to be a great hit.
Go and see it - tell them Snapper sent you  - won't get you in any cheaper and to be honest they won't have a clue who the heck you're talking about !

Out of the Cup - Again

The 110 mile round trip resulted in a cup defeat for Belper. Curzon were just about the better side over the 90 minutes but the fact that we equalised in the 87th minute only to let in another goal a minute later was galling to say the least.
The initial drive over to Ashton was somewhat of a drag - just 52 miles according to the Sat Nav but that was via Buxton, Glossop et al. Although it was quite scenic I would have preferred to drive the 75 miles to Brigg on the motorway and be there in just over 1 hour rather than the 1 hour 45 it took to get to Ashton. Thankfully Carts had his iPhone as the sat nav took us almost all the way there before getting us lost in a maze of one way streets near the ground. Thats the problem when they give you a postcode that is 'approximately' near to your destination. When we got there the place was packed - looked like a real good crowd until you realised that 90% of them were at the 6-a-side complex next door. Just before kick off the majority had left and we were left with 137 hardy souls watching the match.
The set up at Curzon is really nice, two large stands and lots of barriers that would suit a league set up but with all that concrete it does come across as somewhat souless - especially with less than 150 people rattling around inside it. 

This photo of Harry Pride (Aarons dad) stood in the stand opposite the Main Stand probably illustrates this point better than I am describing it. Now admittedly this was before the kick off and he was stood there to get some welcome rays but you get the idea.
The main Stand is where all the action is, the bar, the facilities and at the top the boardroom where we get a refreshing cup of tea (and especially welcomed DARK Chocolate digestives).
At either end are open terrance where the travelling Nailers fans stood behind the goal that Belper were attacking in each half. It's great to see a good turn out at the away games since Ian & Neil organised the buses - top men both of those guys. Curzon Ashton v Belper photos
So we are out of all the cups now except for the Derbyshire Senior Cup which usually starts around the middle of December for us (3rd Rd stage). Last time we had a Monday night trip to New Mills (A place we past about half way into yesterdays journey to Ashton) - I missed that one !
Talking of missing games there will be two i'll miss in the next few weeks. An away trip to Goole on a Tuesday night will be the first then the Saturday trip to Market Drayton Town. We have tickets to see Vin Garbutt at the Assembly Rooms that night and the show starts at 7:30 so it will be too much of a rush to get back. Having done Market Drayton on a midweek night it will be a shame to miss a Saturday trip there as it's a nice place - if a little wooden (people who have been will know what I'm referring to).

Friday - haircut time followed by lunch and then a quick spin on the bike (very predictable eh ?). Decided that I needed to take it carefully until we've sorted the 'dicky ticker' situation out. Therefore kept it down to an easy 15 miles with just the climb back up to home as the challenge. Pulse got up to 174 on the final climb and the usual shortness of breath at the top but otherwise uneventful. That was the only cycling this week so the total now stands at 385 miles - should make it to 400 by the end of this week all being well.

No game on Tuesday evening now as our opponents Leek drew their FA Trophy game and are involved in a replay on Wednesday evening. So next up is a rare home game against Stanford next Saturday. Watch this space for more updates.


Oh by the way my favourite shot from yesterday was not of the action on the pitch but in the sky behind us.



Thursday 3 November 2011

Back On Track

Jon Froggatts 25 yarder
A decent if not brilliant,performance from Belper on Tuesday saw us win 2-1 at Quorn. A fantastic strike ,from Jon Froggatt after just 11 minutes set Belper on the way to a hard earned victory. Despite Quorn equalising 7 minutes before the break there was still time for the Nailers to take the lead again when  keeping error left Andy Rushbury with an open net to fire into. Like the game at Brigg we came out with a victory when a draw would have been a fairer result, but thats football as they say. Quorn v Belper photos
Not see the bike since Friday, had to go to the doctors on Monday evening, then it was football Tuesday and the All Souls church service last night. Tonight (Thursday) back at the doctors and then shopping. Hopefully a bit of a ride out tomorrow weather permitting but have to be a bit careful at the moment until I get the results of some tests I've had for a bit of an irregular heartbeat. Hopefully it's just a case of a few tablets and I'll be back to my best with a view to the Tour De France next year (well sitting watching it on TV anyway).
Saturday it's off to Curzon Ashton in the FA Trophy. A new ground (number 62) for me this one. Kick off is at 2pm due to a large bonfire display near to the ground which means roads being closed. We'll be setting off at 11am - should be an interesting day.