July 18th, 2009 02:03pm
billmarshall
This time last year I was commenting on how pleased I was to see Greg Norman leading the Open at the age of 53. Greg wasn’t quite able to prevail against the immaculate play of Padraig Harrington but what he achieved was superb. This year with the third round at Turnberry just underway we’re seeing an even more amazing situation – Tom Watson at the age of 59 and having had a hip replacement last year is joint leader.
Watson is of course a legend – 5 times a winner in the event and the star of possibly the finest golf battle ever when at this very Turnberry links he and Jack Nicklaus left a star-studded field for dead and played out what was effectively a match-play event for the last two days with an unbelievable finish which saw Watson win by a single stroke.
Universally loved by the Scottish golf crowd, as much for his gentle and respectful manner and his appreciation of links golf and its history as for his achievements in the game, Watson comes across as a really nice guy, and it’s hard to believe he’s now almost 60. Especially when he’s sweeping golf balls miles down the fairway with a swing that’s as pure as any seen in the game since Sam Snead.
His first round here was immaculate. In the second round he had a bad patch early on in very difficult conditions and most folk watching probably thought that was his cue to fade out and leave it to the youngsters. Not a bit of it! He may look like your favourite granddad but he still has a champion’s competitive nature, a game honed for wind and links play, and knows this course better than almost anyone. Yesterday he also putted better than he had since his halcyon days.
It would of course be nothing short of miraculous if he could win it, but with Tiger out, Harrington having hit a bad patch after a superb couple of years, and Garcia seemingly unable to putt, you have to romantically wonder if experience could maybe just count. It would be a fairytale and it would be the most popular outcome you could imagine. Whatever happens Tom, thanks for the wonderful memories and, go on – do it one last time!!
May 22nd, 2009 01:40pm
billmarshall
Transport in Britain is awful. Transport in Edinburgh is approaching catastrophic.
A few months ago I decided to buy a car, something I hadn’t had since 2002. I had resisted this for a long time as I knew the Edinburgh traffic would make for a frustrating commute, and I enjoyed the mile walk across country from the railway station to my current place of work, but after three train cancellations in 10 days including being stranded in Uphall in freezing conditions by a complete shutdown of the line and being left without any information on alternatives, I decided enough was enough and a car was duly purchased.
Now of course this was the worst possible time to switch to road transport as Edinburgh is currently in the throws of traffic chaos with much of the city streets being dug up for the purpose of moving utilities to allow tram lines to be put in.
Now initially I was quite favourably disposed to the idea of a tram system. I am generally in favour of both trains and trams as efficient, fast, and clean methods of transport, having had positive experiences of trains in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, and of trams in cities like Amsterdam and Innsbruck. It’s just that in this country we seem to be completely incapable of running them – they are habitually late, often cancelled and hideously expensive.
If we were getting a real tram network in Edinburgh it might just be worth the current upheaval and disruption; but we’re not. Now that the Roseburn to Granton spur (which should have been cheaper since it ran on a former railway line) has been cancelled due to lack of money, we’re getting a single line. A line that won’t even be useful to most people. It won’t even go all the way to the airport – it’ll stop at a park and ride carpark where travellers will have to switch to a bus – and it will have only one stop in the whole length of Princes Street. Now we hear that some genius in the council has said that since the “diversions” have been so successful they now want to keep Princes St (currently completely dug up and fenced off for the forseeable future) not only free from cars but free from buses as well!!
Ignoring for the moment the incredible idea that having a city reduced to gridlock with the massive increase in pollution and fuel consumption and the loss of working time for our commercial centres could possibly be described as successful, the idea that buses should not be allowed to use the main street in the capital city (and incidentally one of the very few east-west corridors across the city centre) is staggeringly stupid. What do we tell tourists who want to visit attractions in the city centre?
‘No the buses don’t run to there any more and the trams are only an option if you are staying along the Glasgow Road cos they don’t go anywhere else in the city, and even then they only stop in one place along Europe’s most scenic street of over a mile in length.’
They’ll think we’re mad.
And the locals? Well the journey times will all be permanently slower because all the buses will have to take a tortuous route around to Queen Street which is where all the other traffic is as well.
But hey, half the shops in the city centre have closed down because of the tram-related road works in the last two years already, so why would anyone want to go into the city centre? The shopping has been crap for years and most people go to out-of-town centres, Livingston or even Glasgow to shop. And given the planning disasters that the council have perpetrated recently we’ll probably lose our world heritage status anyway so there’ll be fewer tourists. Hmm, why were we putting in trams again?
Listen up council. I’ve lived virtually all of my life in Edinburgh and I’ve always loved it. But if I were 21 again now I’d move somewhere else because you’re making it a nightmare.
March 15th, 2009 08:43pm
billmarshall
A mild Edinburgh day – I was able to wash the windows today without freezing to death – has made me realise that Spring is finally here. And yet is seems the last three months have flown by. My last post was in December and it seems I’ve had no time whatever to do any of the routine things that I would expect. The SpiderWriting SEO blog was last updated in August, the Dunnett blog in November; people I care about I’ve hardly been in touch with. What is it about Winter that seems to soak up the available hours? In some ways I feel as if I’ve hibernated since returning from Madeira and yet in other ways I’ve never stopped dashing about solving problems.
Madeiran review
The week I spent in that delightfully mild climate was a ideal rest that was badly needed. I’d intended to do some walking in the highland areas using the astonishing range of Levadas – the irrigation channels that bring the water from the cloud-covered hills to the farming areas and villages of the coast. In the event I found the whole atmosphere of the island so relaxed that I just leant back and enjoyed the unaccustomed lack of stress. I can see why so many people from stressed out Britain love this island so much. Nearly everyone from the UK that I spoke to was on at least their 8th visit and some had made arrangements to retire there. With an average temperature of between 18 and 24 degrees all year round it’s an ideal environment for anyone who can’t take the extremes of heat that are liable to be found in Spain or the Mediterranean. If I didn’t have my eyes on retiring to Slovenia I might well consider it.
I was particularly looking forward to the food and wine, and it didn’t disappoint. The seafood in particular was excellent and the restaurants wonderfully friendly. The Madeiran and Portuguese wine went down very well indeed – quite different from my normal preferences but matching the food very well.
Sadly the friend I referred to in the last posting succumbed to the cancer she’d fought for so long in the early hours of New Years Day. It made a sombre start to the year, the only blessing being that she was no longer suffering. The only other downer of the week was the return home. The plane we were due to be on had apparently been in an accident with a ground vehicle and a new plane had to be summoned. A long delay meant that instead of arriving in Glasgow at tea-time I only just got back in time to get the last train back to Edinburgh at 11.30pm. Not the return I’d hoped for.
By the time I’d become re-accustomed to the freezing Scottish conditions I had realised how empty the flat seemed without my flatmate, particularly when it proved impossible for her to come back for our friend’s funeral. In fact it she has still not returned but is due back next week. In the meantime I’ve been knocking the flat into shape – styling it to my own preferences while keeping an eye on what she might prefer. It still needs some painting in the living room and that will have to be done now that the light is improving but
it’s a lot more like a home than it was. Though she’s only back for a short time I’m hoping it’ll meet with her approval.
December 30th, 2008 10:24pm
billmarshall
Am starting this blog entry on the way to Glasgow for the flight to Madeira. I’m greatly looking forward to it but in other ways I’m leaving with a heavy heart.
We’ve only been in the new flat for three weeks but already it has become home, a place I’m delighted to be and where I can relax in a way I haven’t been able to do for a long time. My flatmate is also away, but for her it’s three and a half weeks of new experiences and hard work, and a lot of uncertainty, with the possibility that she will be away for 4 weeks out of every 6 for some time. She was hyper for the last few days, yet still looking after me before herself. She is looking forward as she always does but hates to leave her new home so soon. I pray she’ll be ok and be back safe and sound; the flat will be very empty without her.
I’m also going away at a time when a friend is seriously ill and I fear for her and for her husband. I wish I could be there for them but have to remember to look after myself, and this holiday is badly needed. Thankfully they have many other good friends to support them.
So, what will Madeira be like I wonder? From the guidebooks it seems much more green than Malta was last year, and that has to be good. Here’s hoping for a comfortable hotel, good food, good light and no storms. And the odd bottle of Madeiran wine should be interesting too!
December 18th, 2008 07:01pm
billmarshall
It’s been an eventful couple of weeks to put it mildly. A move of house, a change of habit, perhaps even a change of lifestyle. A second and this time final separation to end a marriage of 26 years. A chance to live a little again after 3 years of virtual hibernation in a work-centred existence.
It all happened a bit suddenly in the end. Only a couple of weeks after the idea was first mooted, payments rushed through, keys collected, and van organised, we were moving vast quantities of stuff out of my new flatmate’s old place and rather less out of mine. My not-quite as youthful as they were muscles complaining bitterly the next morning. Though ostensibly a furnished flat there were various things missing that were deemed essential by my new companion and we spent a tidy sum in the second-hand shops rectifying the omissions. Of course that meant endless rearrangements once we’d finally squeezed it all in. A massive shop on Sunday morning while we still had the van and then a dash across town to return it. Such was our state of exhaustion that we both slept for 4 hours in the afternoon before attacking the furniture arrangements one last time to get the place the way we wanted.
Routines are now altered, a different time to wake up, a different kitchen, a longer trip to a different railway station to go to work. Initially it was hard to break the automatic return to the old marital home, especially when so much of my books and music is still there for now until I can arrange storage. But already that life has gone, replaced by a more relaxed evening environment and a new style of cooking which my flatmate insists on doing for me. She’s been a revelation and a delight, and has really made our place into a home in a very short time. I can’t thank her enough for suggesting the move and her energy in making it happen. If the next year is as good as the first two weeks then it’ll be a very good move indeed.
November 23rd, 2008 06:07pm
billmarshall
I don’t watch much television, hardly at all in fact, but occasionally I’ll watch something on the BBC iPlayer service. Having heard about the new Scotland’s History series and having been quite impressed by Neil Oliver when he first started to appear on archaeology programs a few years ago, I caught the first two episodes recently. As always seems to be the way these days there was a big build-up, making out that it was rewriting the whole history of Scotland. Well I don’t know if they are exactly rewriting it but they do seem to be mentioning some things of which I was unaware, particularly in the second episode.
I’ve always had a keen general interest in history and later developed a fascination with archaeology, and of course this was boosted still further by becoming involved with the Dorothy Dunnett community due to Dorothy’s extraordinarily detailed research. However I was always aware of a few gaps where things were hazy. One of those was that I knew about the short but well-regarded reign and tragic death of Alexander III, but had often wondered in passing about the earlier Alexanders. Working in James Thin for so long I was able to dip into their stock but there never seemed to be anything published specifically about them and I never really followed it up. It was therefore with some astonishment that I watched the second episode last night in which Oliver told of Alexander II’s invasion of the England of King John following the mention of injustice done to him in the Magna Carter. No mention of such an entry had ever been made in either school history or in other books or TV programs I had seen on this supposedly critical document in British history. And certainly no mention had come to my attention that Alexander marched all the way to Dover to join the French in besieging Dover Castle. It seems that only the unexpected death of John saw the English barons change their allegiances from Alexander to John’s young son. Otherwise it seems likely that Scotland would have at least extended to the Cumbrian and Northumbrian territories and possibly further.
I’ll continue to watch this series with interest to see what other gaps I may have in my knowledge, and see what other material they may bring forward in radio articles. While I found some of the photography and special effects a touch overdone I was glad to see the emphasis on the changing boundaries of the various sections of the country – too often it seems to be assumed that the current boundaries have always been set in stone and the impression given that countries were always united in the way they are now.
I just wish we’d seen a bit more in the first period they covered which, while interesting in the coverage of the “problem” of what happened to the Picts, seemed to me to be rather light on the Viking period and omitted any mention of the period of Thorfinn and Macbeth, which is of course a time that fascinates many Dunnett readers.
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