Andrea - Abbey Dash 2011

Busy Finish Line

Andrea is taking running more seriously, going to the Halifax Harriers each week and training in a more professional way. She was hoping to improve her personnel best for a 10K run. Unusually for Andrea she'd been ill for a couple of day , Andrea is never poorly, and usually battles through it, but this time she'd had time off work!

With all this background there was some uncertainty about how things might go. We set off very early, 7.15am on a Sunday!! Leeds was very busy, in all about 6500 runners were taking part. We made our way up to the Headrow and watched the warm up. The kids were quite funny, they were all dressed up in winter coats, but did the warm up just for fun.

The race started at 9:30am and once everyone had cleared the start line things quietened off for a while....

The winner did the race in under 30 minutes! Andrea had to beat a time of 54 minutes. We stood anxiously waiting and thankfully she easily beat her best coming in at 51 minutes and 11 seconds. She was well chuffed and had to go out with her mates for a celebration drink in the afternoon.

Good Job Andrea!

The Damned - O2 Leeds



The Damned - Poor Quality

35th Anniversary tour was an opportunity not to miss. We've seen The Damned several times over the years and this felt like a chance to relive times past!I remember the old days over in Bradford, seeing the band at Rio's behind the Uni. The last time we went was quite funny, all the old punks appear to have matured into middle age, the car park was full of BMW's and Audi's, inside the gig everyone had bald heads and 'middle age spread' which resulted in their bellies popping out of their old leather jackets. (No chance of doing the zip up!).


Andrea had to miss the gig, she'd been sick for a couple of day, not like Andrea.

The show started with a ridiculously (as usual) dressed Captain Sensible setting the scene, in his usual silly way.

'Neat Neat Neat' started the ball rolling as they ripped through 'Damned Damned Damned'. The other Obvious track was 'New Rose', but the band made a good fist of the rest of the album. I went for a 'jump about' at the front, everyone smiling but bouncing off each other like crazy, good fun!

Dave Vanian - Poor Quality

A short break and then they set off through 'The Black Album', again everything was pretty tight. The whole band seemed to be full of life and appeared to be enjoying the atmosphere of an appreciative audience.

A couple of encores, finishing with 'Smash It Up'. A great night. The band stuck to the older stuff and didn't do any of the later material, no Eloise or Phantasmagoria tracks, for some people this might have been a disappointment, but there's always a next time......

Remembrance Sunday Parade

We all got dressed up, pinned our poppies onto our coats and walked onto the scout hut for 10:30am. Queensbury was very busy, much of the community, all ages were out paying their respect. The main road was closed by the police and the parade marched to the cenotaph. Lots of local groups were marching, headed by the Scout Band. Crowds lined the main road, Jack and Finlay looked smart in their uniforms. Finlay has a very definite 'stomping' march, Jack calmly walked along.

Queensbury Cenotaph

At the cenotaph the local dignitaries were assembled, a PA system enabled everyone to hear the service. I would estimate that there was over 600 people paying their respect. The last post was played on trumpet by a band member and everyone fell silent.....

One of my relatives died in the 1st World War. Edgar Moore was only 19, died on 16th March 1918 near Ypres in Belgium. He's buried in the Aeroplane Cemetery, Ypres, far from home. His name is on the cenotaph. It was a an emotional few minutes, considering the sacrifice and tragedy that war brings. Once the speeches had been made, wreaths laid the parade moved onto the Holy Trinity Church for the remembrance service.

The church was pretty full and for an hour we sat and paid our respects. Everyone then marched back through Queensbury.

It was a pretty emotional day, I was surprised how many people, both young and old turned out on a foggy, drizzly November day to remember. Today it felt like the community had come together and united... More of this please.

Jack - Back on His Mini Moto

Go Jack Go!!

Jack decided he wanted to ride his Mini Moto for the first time in months. My day out at Donington last week must have made him think he was missing out on something. The field was pretty wet underfoot and Jack had to be pretty careful. He judged the conditions perfectly and didn't fall off once. (Unlike me!) Mud was flying everywhere, he made a track and was soon getting faster, it kept him occupied for ages.

I had a go on my brothers enduro bike and fell off in the mud on my third lap, more fool me!! Most amusing for the kids.

The main thing was Jack enjoyed himself and was enthusiastic about riding.