PHILINFRANCE

I suspect it is more of an ex-pat thing, but I found (many years ago) that Hash House Harriers was an excellent group for both socialising and fun running. I daresay there is a local HHH group in or around Bristol.

Slarti, Think of Miss Taylor.

You probably won't remember this Bert ?, but, one Autumn Sunday afternoon back in the late 1960s/very early 1970s, a year or two before you died if I remember correctly, together with a Rovers supporting friend of mine I went out collecting conkers in the fields near to your lovely house in Frenchay - obviously, I didn't know at that time you lived there. Unfortunately, my over-enthusiastic Rovers friend decided, somewhat unwisely as it turned out, to throw a rather large branch in to one of the conker trees, and when, unsurprisingly, the branch fell back down, it did so via his head, resulting in lots of blood and tears. We made our way to one of the afore-mentioned houses to seek assistance and the charming lady who answered the door to your house, said she would ask her husband to attend to us and called out to you to help. Fortunately, and despite me singing for this on many occasions, you had not gone to Vietnam, and drove my friend and I to the A&E ward of the nearby Frenchay hospital, from where you telephoned my friend's parents and waited until they arrived to take care of their son. I never really got the chance before, but should now like to thank you and apologise for spoiling your Sunday afternoon so many years ago.

They certainly were. There was a really lively rivalry back in the 1970s. I know we all like to mock our blue friends on this thread, especially these last few years, but I do sort of miss those 1970/80 years.

I thought this was sort of wryly amusing: 'Hey Rebekah. How's Jamie holding up through all this? Is it affecting his head? Only I have him in my fantasy football team and I was wondering if you think I should drop him for a few weeks.Thanks in advance' Unfortunately, despite a thorough search, I was unable to find any suitable link to Danielle and her Pringles.

I was about 10 or 11 years old at the time and a mad keen City fan. The late Stuart Taylor used to provide some part-time coaching for our boys team, the majority of whom were Rovers fans, and, knowing I was a City fan, he used to tease me along the lines that he used to play for City, but left them because they were not very good and decided to join Rovers - cue laughter and more teasing from my teammates. Given my age at the time, coupled by the fact I was probably in awe of him, I am sure I would most likely have believed him had he told me that, not only did he play for City, but that he actually scored more goals than the late, great John Atyeo. The reason I mentioned the fact he used to play for City was simply that, reminiscing about the demise of a local sportsman, a wonderful gentleman and, from my personal experience, a man who gave up a lot of his free time to coach me and my young teammates, I recalled something he told me 50 years ago. I am sorry if I confused the true facts of his early playing career, but perhaps I had just a little tear in my eyes when I was posting.

And something else I also found out today, he used to manage the Beaufort Arms!

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Stuart Taylor started his career with City and this was, indeed, as an amateur, before he went on to play for one of my former clubs, Abbotonians. I only know he once played for City as he used to tell (tease ?) me when I was a promising young (schoolboy) footballer that, if I practised hard, I might be good enough one day to play for his former club, City, but probably not for his current club ? . Interestingly, although I only found this out today, he scored his first goal for Rovers in a cup game against City.

Unfortunately, Stuart Taylor, a long-serving centre half for our blue friends during the late 1960s and 1970s has passed away. Many of the younger posters on this thread will probably never have heard of him, but I had the pleasure of meeting him on more than one occasion, and I can assure you all he was a most charming man, a perfect gentleman. Believe it or not, Stuart actually started his career playing for Bristol City. RIP.

It is both silly and sad, especially when, as far as I can tell, both the ladies in question are only 'famous' because of their husbands' ability to play football. Whenever I have seen Mrs R mentioned in the media, it appears to be related either to one of her many holidays in the sun or to her husband's infidelities. As for Mrs V, the stories seem to relate to her similar holidays and her 'bragging' about her one one night stand with Peter André and his 'chipolata' - it is probably a generational thing, but why would she let the world (and her children) know that she allowed herself to be shagged by some bloke she had met just a few hours previously? In my day, any reputable girl would have been mortified were her friends to become aware of such a one night stand, and would have done her utmost to prevent her family or, heaven forbid, her children reading about the sordid details.

I've just ordered an egg and a chicken from Amazon. I'll let you know.... ------------ A blonde girl takes her goldfish to the vet saying it's got epilepsy. The Vet examines the goldfish throughly and concludes the fish is fine and doesn't have epilepsy. Wait, says the blonde, I haven't taken him out of the tank yet. ----------------- I was having sex with my girlfriend last night when she said, "God I feel dirty tonight, If you turn off the light, you can shove it up my arse." With hindsight, I probably should have waited until the bulb had cooled down.

Wow! 100 up - shame that we are 8 wickets down. Still, two sensible batsmen to continue after lunch and perhaps get at least one batting point.

The weather in Southampton is supposed to improve this afternoon - excellent batting conditions for Hampshire? This Abbott bloke is pretty good, though: 6/11 off 11 overs with 8 maidens. 59/7 now, although we have avoided the follow-on.

Hmmm. Three more wickets down already. 57/5 as I type - some pretty poor shots it has to be said, particularly Tom Banton who appeared to be still in 20/20 mode.

Indeed, and what a wonderful finale to his career. As a Somerset fan, I remember wishing the same for Courtney Walsh.

Highest First Class score for Darren Stevens Yorks v Kent 356-5 A thick inside edge off Tim Bresnan moves Darren Stevens on to 207. Patterson bowls. Billings gets a single to get Stevens back on strike. Driven down the ground for four! Darren Stevens has 211! It's his highest ever score for Kent and the highest ever score for Kent against Yorkshire! Well Done Darren - an old stalwart.

I posted some months ago, wondering whether, following the departure of Ali, we might get Tres back for his 400 runs. Obviously romantic, but....

In the stars ?? ? Last week, Ryan ten Doeschate, the Essex captain won the toss and (erroneously, as it transpired) put Warwickshire in to bat. This morning, Tom Abell forfeited the right to bowl first in overcast conditions, and opted for a toss, preferring to bat first on a fantastic pitch. Unfortunately, Tom lost the toss, and here we are: Hold Tight!

Would you perhaps like to swap for Jerome?

Everything I had heard and read about this pitch prior to this morning was that it was a typical one on which, upon winning the toss, the decision would have been, indisputably, to bat first and score high - hence, presumably, the reason Tom Abell chose to contest the toss, rather than choosing to bowl in overcast conditions. Unfortunately, as it would have seemed at 10H00 this morning, TB lost the toss and Hampshire chose to bat. We have benefited from the weather, both in Southampton and in Chelmsford, and I just hope we don't throw away this absolutely wonderful first day of our penultimate Championship match - 9 down as I type, although Surrey are also 2 down.

Or, you could also try this: https://www.somersetcountycc.co.uk/match-centre/

Try this - there is also live commentary. https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/cricket/49569746

He caught Donald whilst fielding at gully: if he was to bowl a bit slower he might even get a C&B ?.

Notwithstanding the overcast conditions, my gut feeling, based on comments concerning the good quality pitch, was that I should have liked to bat today. It seems I may get my wish, as Hampshire are now 6 down.

Just in time for the fifth wicket! Pour old Ian Holland: he comes all the way from Wisconsin, opened the batting and is out for 4 - having batted for almost a whole hour!