Archives » 2013 » April

New Douglas Park, Hamilton

Home of Hamilton Academical Football Club, popularly known as the Accies.

These are the entrance gates:-

New Douglas Park Entrance Gates

The Main Stand is the one you can see in the above photo.

Once you get inside you find the seating area is quite high up. See the steps.

New Douglas Park,Hamilton, Main Stand from Entrance

The Main Stand from inside:-

New Douglas Park, Hamilton, Main Stand

View across ground:-

New Douglas Park, Inside the Ground

Note no stand to right here and the temporary stand on the opposite side. That’s a Morrison’s supermarket behind it.

The North Stand:-

New Douglas Park, North Stand from Main Stand

Apparently Sons fans were in this stand for the Saturday game but it wasn’t used on the Tuesday night.

A few more photos of New Douglas Park are on my Flickr.

Scotland’s Art Deco Heritage 27: The Crook Inn, Tweedsmuir

The inn is situated on the A 701 about 18 miles from Moffat going north and apparently has a claim to be the oldest inn in Scotland, though others do too.

A campaign by the local community to save it from conversion to accomodation as a gathering place for events has recently reached its funding target.

So. How can an inn which claims to be the oldest in Scotland and has a connection with Robert Burns be in a list of Art Deco buildings?

Well check out the extension.

The Crook Inn, Tweedsmuir, 1

Crook Inn, Tweedsmuir 2

Rounded entrance with glazing to match, the overhanging canopy, the banding on the balcony above. All deco.

I hope they keep that frontage.

Weaver by Stephen Baxter

Gollancz, 2008, 321 p.

Unlike the previous volumes in Baxter’s “Time’s Tapestry” series which were spread over several centuries and as a result had a disjointed feel, the action in this one is spread over only a few years in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The tale is tighter and more cohesive as a consequence.

The prologue features an Irishman called O’Malley who at MIT has invented a machine he calls a “loom” with which – with the contribution of the dreams of an Austrian Jew called Ben Kamen – he has managed to send a message back to pre-Roman Britain. It isn’t long before both the loom and Kamen have been snatched by the Nazis and incorporated into their greater plan of altering history to ensure the triumph of the Reich.

The meat of the book is set in and after the invasion of Southern England by German forces once the BEF had been destroyed on the shore at Dunkirk. A hasty (and to my mind unlikely) deal by Churchill with the US sees them given military bases – US sovereign territory – south of London. As Hitler is seeking to avoid war with the US the German advance halts when they encounter these. This struck me as more of a sop to possible US readers of the book than something that would have occurred in such a scenario. The presence of a female US newspaper correspondent and her son in the cast of characters also points in this direction. A demarcation line cutting off South-East England is where the war situation settles down.

Off-stage Churchill falls as Prime Minister, to be succeeded by Lord Halifax who nevertheless continues the war – which goes on more or less as in our timeline; Barbarossa, Pearl Harbor, Stalingrad, El Alamein all get a mention, Japan’s invasion of Australia is new though. Again it may be more likely that Halifax would have sued for peace, but perhaps that would have been unthinkable with a substantial part of the UK – not just the Channel Islands – under German rule.

While Weaver can be read as a one-off with no detriment to the reading experience there are several nice touches where Baxter has his characters travel to locations which appeared in earlier books in the series; places like Birdoswald on Hadrian’s Wall and Richborough in Kent (Roman Rutupiae.)

This is the sort of thing that Harry Turtledove essays so frequently. Baxter’s characters are more rounded than Turtledove’s generally are and the extra twist of the loom makes for an added commentary on the contingency of historical events.

Cowdenbeath 2-3 Dumbarton

SFL Div 1, Central Park, 27/4/13

Firstly, congratulations to all the players and staff at the club. This result means we have finished in a higher position in Scottish Football than at any time since 1987. It is a magnificent achievement for the club. Special thanks to the manager Ian Murray who has dragged us from certain relegation to safety with a game to spare.

Arguably we have overachieved this season. Most Dumbarton fans hoped to finish eighth but expected to be no higher than ninth and in the play-off spot.

I ought to have taken my camera. I’d forgotten last away game was dress-up day. The zombies were good; and the two women with t-shirts that said “Murray’s Angels.”

We had the best of the early play and Stephen Grindlay had nothing to do beyond goal kicks. He hadn’t had a save to make before they scored – and we donated that one with a loose pass in their half allowing a break with three men on two. They had a brief spell in charge after that as they took confidence from the goal but then the game swung in the space of five minutes.

Or was it five seconds? For the equaliser was an absolute belter, Scott Agnew nipping the ball off an opponent’s toe in the centre circle, striding forward into space and chipping the goalkeeper from at least 35 yards. Not quite as good as Paddy Flannery’s along-the-ground strike from a little further out at the same end at the same stadium (too many years ago now) but getting on for it.

The second came from a floated in cross that was on Jim Lister’s head from the moment it left Garry Fleming’s boot and then rapidly into the net.

When the penalty was awarded – right at the extreme corner of the box, a penalty for a foul there is a bit ridiculous really but those are the rules – when Steven McDougall beat his man almost on the bye-line and fell over the trailing leg (he didn’t dive, he couldn’t avoid the outstretched leg and fell as a result) I remarked to Simon Barrow, “We don’t have a good penalty record here.” (I’ve seen too many games.) Simon predicted where it would go though, Scott Agnew unerring from the spot.

The second half was ridiculous.

We must have had about 7 chances to add to the score, Agnew, twice, Garry Fleming, Steven McDougall, substitute Brian Prunty twice – he may have been trying too hard as he didn’t start the game – and Mark Gilhaney all not scoring from good opportunities. To be fair their keeper had three good saves in that lot.

As is the way (as is the Dumbarton way) the last minute or two – where did the added time come from? – were made more nervous for the fans by their second, which came just after the substitution of Alan Lithgow by James Creaney meant a reshuffle in the defence.

The final whistle saw mutual congratulations between the players and fans. A remarkable season will end happily.

I’ll bask in it for now, knowing that I don’t have to face next Saturday with trepidation. Crucial last day games are always the worst.

But next season may be harder. There is likely to be one fewer part-time team in Div 1.

Caramilk

I was thinking about Cadbury’s Caramello again today and I suddenly remembered that the bar had another name, Caramilk. It had disappeared once before and was brought back under a new name.

I can’t now remember which name came first – possibly Caramilk was the one which was around in my youth and Caramello came later.

I looked up Caramilk and it seems there is a bar of this name sold by Cadbury’s in Canada, and Caramello is found in the US, Australia and New Zealand. The Wiki article doesn’t mention Ireland though.

Here’s a link to the Irish shop and its picture of a Caramello bar which looks more like the non-vending machine size I remember buying back in the day. When I looked there though it said, “Sold Out!”

Some of the images on this page (I see mine has got on there somehow; it’s about halfway down) are of the old packaging.

Live It Up 9: Coronach

Another song that was used in a TV series – written specially for it – was Jethro Tull’s Coronach, the theme tune for a Channel 4 series on British History called Blood of the British. I liked it so much I bought the single. As I recall Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow was the B-side.

Edited to add:- I just found my original embedding was of a video that had been taken down. I’ve swiched it for a new one which shows views of Scotland – starting with St Andrews Cathedral.

Jethro Tull: Coronach

Grasmere and Windermere, Cumbria

You could be forgiven for thinking I had gone to the Lake District and not visited any lakes, but of course I did.

En route to Cockermouth we passed Bassenthwaite Lake which is large but flat looking if you know what I mean.

We passed Thirlmere, a pretty enough lake but nothing spectacular, in order to visit Grasmere, lake and village, where we sampled the “famous Grasmere gingerbread.”

We also climbed up to Allan Bank, a house which William Wordsworth once rented.

Allan Bank, Grasmere

From the left hand side of the house as seen above I took three photos of the lake and village, stitched into the one below.

Grasmere

The lake itself is little more than a puddle but the village is a delightful wee place.

Then onwards, up and over from the A591 to the A592 a very steep ascent giving me the opportunity to photograph Lake Windermere. Again a stitch (of two this time.)

Lake Windermere

We then kept on up the A592 travelling almost the full length of Ullswater – which is impressive, if not quite as magnificent as most Scottish fresh-water lochs. Particularly appealing were the tourist pleasure boats plying the lake, reminding me of the Loch Lomond of my youth and a trip to Loch Katrine about 12 years ago. It was raining by that time though and we didn’t stop. Perhaps next time.

Egremont War Memorial, Cumbria

From Whitehaven we moved on to the town of Egremont where there was no Art Deco but it does have a very dignified War Memorial. Its statue of a soldier dominates one end of the main street. Pity about the street light behind it.

Egremont War Memorial, Cumbria

The Great War names are set round the upper portion. WW2 names are on plaques either side.

Egremont War Memorial WW2 Plaque

The WW2 plaque on the opposite side unusually contains the name of a woman – who I thought may perhaps have been a nurse but it seems Grace Cummings was a Wren, (WRNS.)

Egremont War Memorial Female Name

Whitehaven, Cumbria

Whitehaven appeared a bit more prosperous than Maryport or Workington, less industrial certainly, and with a lot of sailing yachts in the harbour.

But more Art Deco, not just the Bus Station.

Only separated from the old Bus Station by one building is this pub, the Bransty Arch, now a Wetherspoons.

Bransty Arch, Whitehaven

Here’s the frontage in more detail. Good stuff on the roofline and the Arch motif.

Bransty Arch Detail

Here’s the side view looking back towards the old Bus Station.
Bransty Arch side view

Further into the town I found a Burton’s.

Burton's, Whitehaven

This is typical of 30s Burton’s style. Pity about the wires and other guff in the way in this other view in which I also seem inadvertently to have photographed a gull on the roof!

Burton's, Whitehaven, side view

We found a large second-hand book shop in the town, very nook and cranny-like. Sadly none of the books grabbed my interest sufficiently to buy any. Ones I might have bought I already had! The good lady managed one purchase, though, and also browsed one she had been thinking of buying from the internet but decided she wouldn’t like it.

Blast From The Past

I hadn’t seen one of these in years. But on 20/4/13 in my local supermarket I found for sale Cadbury’s Caramello.

Cadbury's Caramello Wrapper

Caramello is much better than the more common Cadbury’s Caramel.

I remember there used to be a Caramello bar about 1½ times the size of this though these ones could be found in vending machines back in the day.

Not only was there Caramello on that shelf but also Tiffin* bars, Mint Crisps and Golden Crisps – all of which have been notable by their absence for years from British shops.

These all may be Cadbury’s Ireland products. The Caramello bears the legend, “Official treat provider to the Irish Olympic team.”

Does this mean Caramello has been available in Ireland all this time?

Cadbury’s website has no trace of these products. Lucky Irish right enough.

*I never ever consumed a Tiffin: they have raisins in them. I always feel eating raisins, sultanas or currants must be like biting into a blister. I try to avoid them all.

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