Kevin Bridges - Victoria Theatre Halifax

Kevin Bridges on Stage

Andrea bought tickets for this gig at Halifax Victoria theatre ages ago. A couple of friends, Andrea and me set off early and had a nice meal at Frankie and Benny's in the Broad Street Plaza in Halifax.

We headed across town, managed to get a quick drink before heading to our seats. Amazingly a couple of friends were sat just behind us.

The warm up act did a good job at breaking the ice, I didn't catch his name, I pitty because he was pretty good.

After a short break Kevin made his entrance. For the first 30 minutes I was in stitches, he went from one funny story to another. There certainly was a lot more swearing than you get on the typical stand up DVD but it didn't detract from a great evening. I like all the funny stories that I can relate to. He started off by having a polite go at Tax dodgers, fellow comedians and then told some truths about banking!!

He was very clever at gauging the audience, just keeping his insults at the right level and not being decisive.

His story about weirdos on buses and his banter about regional accents were memorable.

After a short break he returned and asked for questions from the audience. He's pretty confident, anything could have happened. Some of the stuff was funny but it can only be as good as the people asking questions and some of the material was a bit disjointed.

Kevin was on stage for about one and a half hours, the time flew and I was surprised how quickly the time passed.

After the show we went for a few drinks and headed home, after all we all had to go to work in the morning! 
We'd had a good night and we'll be looking out for more comedy nights!

Oulton Park - Track Day

Ready to Go!

At the end of the season there are one or two track days on Saturday. It was an opportunity for Andrea and the kids to come along and have a day out at Oulton Park. It was also pretty cheap £80! there however is only. 6 sessions because it comes dark so early.

Getting everyone out of bet at 6am was a bit of a challenge, but the kids were soon settled in the van. The weather was pretty poor, I just hoped hat things would improve and hoped to see a dry track at some point in the day.

The riders meeting went off without a hitch, there's been a bit of a change, the Intermediate group is now out on track first, good news later in the day as I'd be finished early and cold pack up and head home without having to wait until he very end.

Everything was still pretty wet and it didn't look like it would change any time soon. In the first session I did the two sighting laps and pulled in. It didn't help that everyone in the group had wet tyres on their bikes, this made me a little nervous, as I don't have fancy tyres for the wet. To be honest wobbling round when it's raining isn't my idea of fun. When I used to race I always enjoyed the wet, I could push hard and wasn't bothered about accidents, however on a track day I just don't get it.

I sat out all the morning sessions with my fingers crossed that the track would dry out.

After lunch things did improve. There as a dry line so I started to enjoy myself. At first taking it easy but going faster as I figured out the conditions. Under the trees at Druids I was a little uncertain weather it was wet or not but there seemed to be grip!

Two Up.

About half way through this session a bloke came blasting past me on lakeside, normal routine big fast bike that I can't live with. However as he approached island bend he went straight on into the gravel trap, he probably went off the track at 80-90mph. I tried to ignore his random manoeuvre, I certainly didn't want to follow him onto the grass at that speed! I guess he missed his braking marker, went off the dry line and panicked.

The track dried out as the sessions rolled by. Andrea and the kids watched from the bridge on clay hill and I had to be careful not to get distracted.

On the last session I had the hammer down and was really enjoying myself. I knew it was the last chance this year on a track so I was pushing pretty hard. Half way through the session I had a real moment at Druids. I guess there were still damp patches, the back end stepped out near the second apex, it felt like a huge slide, but in reality it was probably something and nothing. It's made me slow down and be more careful, but it did get the adrenalin flowing!

I'd had an okay day, the weather had spoilt things but at least Things improved in the afternoon, roll on next year!

Finlay School Cross Country

Finlay - Ready to run!

Looks like Finlay is following in Andrea and Jack's footsteps when it comes to running. He was picked for the school cross country. Finlay was chuffed because he normally blends in and doesn't get involved. It was quite funny that he got really nervous before the run, just like Andrea.

Finlay looked tiny compared with everyone else, it was year 3 and 4 so he was running against kids who were older than him. After a slow start he just kept plodding along and was overtaking lots of kids, by the end there was only 3 other kids in front of him, and they were all year 4 so he did really well.

At assembly the day after he was called out to the from to collect a certificate, quite a fuss for Finlay!!

Remembrance Sunday Parade

Remembrance Sunday in Queensbury

Another Remembrance Sunday, similar to last year the kids were marching in Beavers / Cubs. Everyone met up at the Scout hut and the roads were soon closed for the march to the cenotaph. It was a pleasant morning and we were soon assembled for the service.

After the 2 minutes silence typically the burglar alarm in the Coop went off, turned into a bit of a shambles as various dignitaries gave there speeches with the ear splitting alarm drawing attention away from the service.

Everyone then marched to the Church and we all sat through the service. For a change I enjoyed the speeches, each of he various churches and chapels in the village were represented and to be fair the talks were all relevant and not too religious.

It was very busy again, nice to see so many people paying their respects. It wasn't too long ago when Remembrance Day was poorly attended, so it's good that people are compelled to attend.

Railway Bike Ride - Queensbury to Thornton

Jack and Finlay on Thornton Viaduct

The Great Northern Railway Trail has recently been extended enabling good walks and bike rides from Station Road in Queensbury all the way to Thornton. Riding from home to Thornton and back is exactly six miles. 

We set off from home and carefully made our way through the village. Once we got on Station Road it should have been easy but Finlay got upset because he knew that we had to peddle back up the hill!

Finlay got his head around everything and we started to enjoy the ride, soon crossed Cockin Lane and headed along the new stretch of the track. The railway builders must have been kept busy building all the bridges and cuttings. There's a huge bank as the railway crossed a valley, heaven knows how much work this took to build. We then crossed Headley Lane and headed over the viaduct.

Map of the route

I took a couple of photos and we headed back. True to form Finlay wasn't happy about peddling up the hill, but he stayed on his bike and did get to the top. His reward was pop and crisps!

It'a a good track, I can't wait until it gets joined up to Harecroft. If this ever does get completed it will be possible to ride from Queensbury all the way to Cullingworth without having to ride on roads. All good!