it's not just a game ...

 

  

'Always different, always the same', as the late, great John Peel used to say of his heroes, 'The Fall'.  Football's like that in so many ways. 

 

It's a ritual. The trip to the ground, buying a programme, sampling the rich greasy food and slurping down over-priced watery lager.  It's always the same, yet always different.

 

Watching the game on TV has none of the magic, none of the hopes and dreams as kick-off time approaches, none of the shared experience wedged in a constantly moving throng of people.

 

The whistle blows and we're off on yet another adventure together ...

 

 

 

a cheeky pint

Dear Sheddists,

the venue for last week's Photo Group shoot is the site of Curzon Street Station, a famous but rather overlooked gem in Birmingham's architectural history. It's tucked away at the rump end of the city and is the oldest extant railway building in the UK. The station is now poised to enjoy a fresh lease of life as the gateway to the new HS2 train-line.

We start and finish in style at the legendary Woodman, just opposite. Fortunately this is also to be spared the bulldozers. Instead it will be incorporated into a massive new station development centred around the Curzon Street entrance.

Regular readers may remember a visit I made to the Woodman two years ago.  It's reassuring to know the rich heritage of this great pub will be preserved for future generations to enjoy.

The Woodman's fine bar-man introduces us to a splendid collection of specialist ales, lagers and ciders. Before long our group is engaged in light banter with two delegates to a conference elsewhere in the city.  

Another pint is pulled and another pint is enjoyed!!

All the best,

electrofried(mr)