Zen And The Art Of Mowing...That's Right The Garden's Done At Last

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As you may recall the grass around my house has not been cut for about one and a half months. Due to a combination ill health, the weather and work. So yesterday morning the back garden looked like this.

It was a jungle out there (suburban style)

Indeed in the last few days a new factor occurred when my daughter spent two days off school because she ate something that didn't agree with her and promptly vomited it up in the toilets. Of course she proceeded to do what any modern day child would do in the circumstances. She took a photo of it on her phone. I'll spare you the details. Suffice it to say that she had tuna for lunch. Thankfully everything's now.

But on Friday before she went out to work the wife suggested, in that sort of subtle "there's no excuse now" way wives do, that I should the grass in the morning.She had seen the other houses around us and felt embarrassed. In my mind the first thing I could think of was the childish "do I have to"? given that I was working the afternoon/evening shift that day.But the weather was good and if rushed there was time.

Must admit that despite some halfhearted attempts to the contrary I'm not really all that interested in gardening. I find it well.....,dull. The one exception re gardening (or more accurately garden maintenance) was cutting the grass. To me it's soothing to move the mower one way, turn,move it the next row,put the grass in the black bag and so on. Indeed now I'm close to getting the process how I used to like it.

Now you note the past tense was used here. There is a reason for it. Some years back my daughter's uncle gave her an all metal slide for her birthday (thank you uncle). Even worse friends decided to buy her a trampoline. It was a big massive thing. Taking up about a quarter of the space in the back garden. It made mowing no longer a quiet little pleasure, more of an obstacle course.

The trampoline went last year. The outside mesh started to fray,it was getting rusty, but when the net itself started to get holes well that was it. Dismantling the monster took about half a day. It felt like killing a Martian from War Of The Worlds.

My "garden project" for this year is the dismantling of the slide. It's too young for her now and besides.it doesn't have wi-fi.

It was a warm day (though later the sky went dark and started to rain around six pm - not forecast) and in two hours the job was done. There were compromises mind. If there was clumps of grass because the mower couldn't take all of it on the first go, well it stayed there. The edges now look like an identity parade of South Walian weeds. Most disturbingly though for my wife there were black bags of the waste left in the garden as I didn't have time to go to the tip. She has a fear that mice would untie the knot and would climb in. They were dealt with the day after.

And so it was done. It would win no awards. No mowing association of Great Britain would even give it a pass mark, But given what it had looked like it's tolerable and that's good enough for me.

Until the next time.

In Which I Take Kim Edwards To The Dentist And I Contribute To Murdoch's Coffers To Say Goodbye To The Boleyn

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well my long delayed appointment to the dentist eventually happened today (Tuesday). As you remember it was postponed twice when I was under the weather. I took the Penguin paperback I've been reading. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards whilst I was waiting to be called in.

Of course Dentistry has gone beyond the days where pre waiting entertainment constituted a few worn fashion and motoring magazines. Now they give you a TV to view. However it's daytime TV which means mainly something along the lines of property/emergency services/ benefit scroungers/antiques/collectables/people with domestic disputes resolved in a mock court or an emotional bear pit that make you feel you're watching prewatershed MMA/progammes you like but was first shown decades ago/ general cheap trash.

Which all meant that TV was not a distraction.

It is you know a very emotional book. I find myself more amenable to such novels the older I get. A couple of years ago I found myself surprisingly affected after reading Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan. If this was in my twenties I'd have just shrugged. Age does that to you.

Things went OK at the dentist. Especially as she had seen me make the effort to come earlier this year even though I was unwell (so that was cancelled). So when I admitted that dental hygiene was the last thing on my mind during the past month I was spared a lecture.

Rupert Murdoch is a little bit richer this month. For this afternoon I had Sky Sports added to my TV package with BT. It costs £22 a month and a month is all I want. Because tonight (Tuesday) West Ham were playing Manchester United in the last ever game being played at the Boleyn. And I had to watch it.

Before I go on, and give the impression that this is not so much a post more of a eulogy for a much loved stadium. I'm not going to make any excuses for the drunken apes that smashed the Manchester United coach on the way to the ground. It didn't matter if the result was 8-0 and gave the Boleyn a memorable send off it will be this that it will be remembered for. They've disgraced the team,the memories and the majority of the supporters. Not only that but rival fans will throw tonight at our faces for a long,long while.

That all being said. They are the team I have supported as a child. I've fond memories of going to home games. Think the one that sticks in my memory of the games I went to was the first home game after the death of Bobby Moore. It was against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Before the beginning of the match there were emotional scenes as a wreath of a West Ham football shirt with a number six on it being brought on the middle of the pitch

Remember Mike, (or was it Gavin?) Small missing a chance that I could have scored without my glasses on. Wolves scoring first. It was Steve Bull (I mean who else would it be for them in that period?). West Ham won though. One of the goals was a Julian Dicks penalty. And if there was one certainty in football at that time it was that goalkeepers never saved a Julian Dicks penalty as he kicked it with a force that I've never seen before or since. They just avoided the ball.

Also, as I've mentioned before. Friends and family aside the one thing I have truly missed about moving to Wales was West Ham United. So I wasn't going to miss this match.

I have a collection of twenty football shirts,which I'll explain about in another post (though probably twenty, to a real collector, will evoke laughter bordering on mockery). There are two rules to this collection. One is that full price is never paid and the other is that it's just one per team. Of course these rules are broken for West Ham (I've four of them). This was the one I bought for its original cost and it seemed fitting I'd wear it today.

The Legend that is Dagenham Motors

Well you probably know that West Ham won memorably after having been 2-1 down. It was a wonderful game. But the final show after the match to celebrate the history of the Boleyn did make me shed a few tears I must admit (though in a manly way of course).

Let me apologise to Manchester United and their supporters for the actions of a few drunken apes...but I'm happy we won.

Until the next time.

The Day After A Warm Day With More Evidence How Bridgend Town is neglected by Labour. Also Library Update

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well today (Monday) was a great deal different to yesterday. Breezier,cooler,greyer. Unfortunately for me it was also wetter. Which of course meant that my latest chance of cutting the grass was missed. Perhaps there is a weather god because he (or she) is really mocking me now.

I've finished the Christopher Hitchens book, Not sure if "enjoyed" is the right word but enjoy it I did. It's a big doorstop of a read but I would recommend it.

Anyway what that means is that I've read the three library books I've had on the go and so it was time to go back to the Porthcawl and Pyle libraries to bring them back and get a new one. And I mean one book this time from Porthcawl. So now I've reduced the number being read to four. Yes that's right I'm slacking.

So looking for a football book to pick there was a title that just stood out.

Jerzy Dudek - A Big Pole In Our Goal

Jerzy Dudek was a goalkeeper who played for a number of clubs but most notably from a British perspective Liverpool where he won a Champions League medal. This intrigued me. After all it's an autobiography of a Polish player,albeit one well known in Britain, translated from its original language (though the publisher did tweet to me that it's updated and adapted for UK fans). It made me wonder whether it would be different to the average football biography of a British star. We shall see.

Before we leave Porthcawl here is a picture of the shore at around 11am.

A Moody Monday View

I suspect that the May Bank Holidays / good weekend weather are but training for places like Porthcawl as they prepare for the influx in a few months' time of holidaymakers. Because as I explained before in good weather you can confuse its beaches with places in France or Italy

You might remember a post I did a while back about the state of Bridgend Town which argued was compounded by the neglect of the Labour party and why I felt as a consequence was an argument to vote for Plaid Cymru. Well let me give you some more examples.

A Stationary Shop

This was a stationery shop, Now it appears to have just been allowed to rot and die. Do you think anybody is going to be attracted to open something new there given the sad state it has been allowed to become?

One more example.

Offices To Let

So this modern building has a sign on it stating that there are "Offices To Let". I'm certain that the previous occupiers of this building were.......Bridgend Council. The Labour controlled council allowing it would appear for another empty property to damage the town.

Until the next time.

Why Working On A Warm Sunny Sunday Was Less Awkward Than Being A West Ham Fan Near Swansea

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Personally I've never had any moral issues about working on a Sunday. My belief in deities of any kind having dissolved years ago and in terms of family my daughter is of an age that her priority (aka demands of me and my wife) is for her to do her homework. So for the most part she's not really missing any father/child time.

Today (Sunday) has been the first warm, as opposed to sunny day of the year. But I wasn't bothered by this. For although my blood is mainly Italian there are certain things that my Tuscan relatives would be looking at me and wondering whether I was truly from the Mediterranean stream. My preference for tea over coffee, my dislike of olives and my uncomfortableness with hot weather.

They probably first noticed when we went to Italy when I was around eleven. There was a trip to the seaside resort of Viareggo. But rather than play in the sand or the sea I was just under an umbrella and reading a book. (Can't tell you the title of the book but it was a Harry Patterson/JackHiggins thriller. Remember I'd enjoyed it at the time but I've forgotten the plot now. His books have that effect on me. The McDonald's of thriller writing). Also to be fair I was slightly too young to be effected by ladies in bikinis.

Today was not a blisteringly hot day. It was warm with light fresh wind to cool things down. Yet a lot of the people I saw at work today today were dressed as if they were living near Miami than Maesteg. Sleeveless basketball style shirts, shorts, sandals and sunglasses could all be seen. The one I don't really understand are sunglasses.I've lived in Wales since the late nineties and although contrary to its image there have been many blisteringly hot days, the weather has never been so dazzlingly bright that I've had the urge to raid the drawers in my bedside cabinet for the shaded specs.

It's not that I'm laughing at the Welsh you understand. It's that warm weather highlights how close to the Italian temperament they are because (generally speaking of course) it shows them comfortable with their skin. Something I wish I had the ability to have, despite my Italian blood.

So working today shouldn't have been a problem. If it wasn't for yesterday. West Ham, my team, played Swansea City.

And they lost.

Not only did they lose but by 4-1. Swansea City have had a season which other than avoiding relegation has been extremely disappointing. The nadir of which was the sacking of team stalwart Garry Monk as manager. Something of which was for me Shakespearean in action and  had the effect that of losing its innocence as a team.

Prior to the match even Swans supporters were telling me that they expected the Hammers to win.

So of course they decided to produce their best performance this season against the team I follow. Needless to say, being the closest West Ham fan most people round me know I was the target of good natured ribbing. Loud at that. Of course I had to grin and bare it. Those who weren't happy at the result had a go at me as well, given they were mainly from the arch rival Cardiff City.

Not much I could do or say really,especially as I've been bathed in reflective glory all season given West Ham's generally good year.

Ah well...such is life....and football.

Until the next time.

In Which Votes Are Cast,Books Are Read Paul Theroux Is Writer As Hitman and Possibly Discovering Another Reader

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well as I'm writing this blog it's Saturday morning at 7:14am. Not only am I awake but astonishingly so is my daughter.

A couple of days back I cast my votes in the National Assembly elections for Plaid Cymru. Now we know that that Labour are the largest party. Plaid have progressed,albeit slowly. Still it is progression not regression and that is important.

Speaking personally I regret being unable (in a small way) to help Plaid,the party I'm now a member of during the election due to ill health. Hopefully I'll do better in the local council election and see whether the party can dent the incompetance that Labour currently rules Bridgend with.

The rise of UKIP in Wales is a disappointment. Suppose though that the politics of fear is powerful anywhere.

Well a number of books have been finished. The first one was the library book Spanish Swans by Pablo Gomez about the those Iberian players who helped in the rise of Swansea City. As the book went on like a mountain descent it started from a peak and went downhill into dullness from then on. Mainly because as the book progressed it did not tell me anything I didn't know already.

But then the realisation dawned on me that it wasn't the writer's fault or mine. This book was a translation from Spanish. So for the majority of the readers it was originally intended for it was all new. The mistake was publishing it in Britain.

Now the only other library book of the three I borrowed by Christopher Hitchens is wider than a brick so it was impossible to take to work. Visiting the library is impossible for me until Monday so another non Penguin book was needed to be plucked from the great unread.

This is the book I picked.

Andy Miller - Tilting at Windmills

This book is an account of the writer's attempt to shed a lifelong dislike of sport by taking up miniature golf. So far so good.

The Paul Theroux travel book The Pillars of Hercules is also finished.When I started it I'd described the author as a "professional" writer. This was I realise now wrong. The correct description of him is writer as hitman. Indeed if you look at early adult pictures of him he looks like an archetypal seventies assassin. Ready to kill some democratically elected politician before being foiled by Roger Moore and Tony Curtis.

For on the one hand he's cool,sophisticated and well researched. However he's equally cold,unemotional and self centred. Like a hitman you dislike the writer and what he produces. All my younger self prejudices against him came back as I was reading this.

So I need a new Penguin Paperback to read. This was picked from the great unread.

Kim Edwards -The Memory Keeper's Daughter 

When I mentioned on this Twitter I got a response from someone saying that it was one of the best novels she'd ever read. So all very encouraging then.

I'd bought this Penguin Paperback, which has the orange/white spine of their books published in America in a charity shop in Maesteg, Inside it though there was a calling card from a Kenneth Henry,Assistant Manager - Technical Training from New York. Well that card has an email address and I've emailed him. We'll see if he's a fellow reader. Hopefully he's still with us.

Until the next time.

In Which Nothing Much Happens...It's A Bank Holiday After All

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I woke up at 6:42am in the morning. There was no morning shift for me, indeed it wasn't a day for working at all and there it was. A bank holiday morning and I'm awake early.

Must be honest. There are advantages to waking up early. The biggest being that you can attack all your programmes loading up the DVR. Being a "Welsh" day it meant all those from the native language channel S4C.

As it was a bank holiday I'd dreaded any trips out that the wife was going to plan. Mainly as a Bank Holiday trip normally involves shopping in Cardiff either for her/daughter's clothes. A process which for me is hell on Earth which only resolved by taking a book with me, The other option is IKEA who I have mixed views of. On the one hand that there is the Scandinavian minimalist look, which I like but am never to obtain. Or a sort of weird,wacky look which makes you wonder whether the designer was on drugs.

As it happened neither was going to occur. Nor indeed was my plan for today which was to cut the grass as when I looked out of the window dark clouds hovered which soon turned to rain.

Incidentally one of the five books I've been reading has now finished. That was the biography of Alex Salmond by David Torrence. It was surprisingly entertaining and I enjoyed it. Most of all of course, it told you a lot about a public man that you didn't realise.

For lunch my wife cooked bacon,eggs,sausages, toast and beans. Cholesterol heavy but I loved it. Nothing I would argue with such an old fashioned meal on an occasional basis. It also reminded of the food my grandparents cooked in the seventies when they had a cafe in Whitechapel. I'm a man in my fifties more often nostalgia rules.

The greatest use of my labour today was destroying an old laptop before it was to be destined to be put on the tip. If only because of a fear that if it wasn't ripped up it be picked up and hacked. Yes I've seen The Net and so you can blame my paranoia on Sandra Bullock.

Eventually we as a family just rumbled in front of the television. Daughter made us watch an odd film called Holes starring Signorney Weaver and John Voight presumably because the producers were able to blackmail them into performing. The only surprise was that Eartha Kitt was in it. That took me back.

Later on there were loads of Disney Channel shows that wife/daughter like but made me listen to the football on BBC Radio 5 Live (Incidentally congratulations to Leicester City...dreams can come true). Though there is one thing you need to note about these sitcoms, which is they will always be one cast member with a really odd name.

There was eventually a bright blue sky and the sun was out but of course it was too late to appreciate it. As is life.

Until the next time...

The Quiet Pleasure Of Turning A Page (The Love Of Reading) and the joys of chasing Penguins and Pelicans

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Firstly I'm feeling a little better. Though the night was a painful rasp of continued coughing and I've still got a sore throat at least I feel more with it than I did yesterday. Still there was no reason to overdo today so I mainly spent the day reading.

Now let me not be accused of being a hypocrite. I have a Kindle and it is useful. If you're going on holiday it's more convenient than putting a couple of books in the travel bag. You also can obtain books that are difficult to get in its print form. For example on my ereader there's The Brightfount Diaries by Brian Aldiss.I remembered enjoying reading it as a child in Barkingside Library. It was a fictional account of life in a fifties bookshop. That's right. The only copy I can obtain at a reasonable price about working in a bookshop is through an ereader. That's irony.

But, but. When all other things are things are equal there is a quiet pleasure in turning the page that the swiping of your finger along a tablet cannot match. When I am sitting down with a book in front of me, or standing in a queue, or waiting for my daughter from her school bus I can instantly find myself as I am now into the world of Scottish politics, Welsh football, A journey around the Mediterranean, a football fan's life and political thinking of a renowned essayist. Books can do this,

The decline of the paper book is a tragedy. Because the Internet cannot fulfil that latent thrill of discovering a tome in bookstall or a library that you know must read. The Internet cannot match trailing your eyes along the shelf. What it cannot do is the unexpected discovery. On the web you have to give it a guide through the search engine so the thrill is not as great.

For a while now I have been collecting Penguin and Pelican paperbacks. But only those that have the distinctive coloured spines on them. The spine bit is a bit of vanity as I like the way its uniformity on the shelves. The Penguin/Pelican paperbacks though I collect because they are the publishing house that would produce the widest range available.

As you see I'm in the process of putting the books I currently have in my collection online. At time of writing they are "under construction" (ie I've not finished yet) but hopefully they'll be completed soon.

Until the next time

In Which I Have A Coffee In The Morning But Not A Bore Coffi. Why To Me It's Like Rugby and How Alex Salmond Was The Diplomatic Choice

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Health wise nothing has changed for me since I last posted. Been to work and back powered by coughing and spluttering. Returning home my body seems to say  "Work's done so everything's going downhill now". Not downhill enough though that my first call today (a day off) would be to the doctor.

So coughing, a sore throat and a bit of a head cold. My chest feels as if someone has opened it to let the draught in.Body feels uneasy but still in control.

It's affected my sleep. Between Friday night and Saturday morning apart from a 15 min session around 1am when I needed to make a cup of tea and waking up at 6am to make breakfast only to go to sleep half an hour later I was between 8pm until 10am. This morning a sudden coughing fit got me awake at 3am.

Worst thing so far is being unable to do things that I'd wanted to do. The dental appointment I'd mentioned in my previous post has been postponed until the middle of next month. Not felt able to volunteer to deliver leaflets for Plaid Cymru and the grass outside hasn't been cut for the same reason (In a suburbia sense - It's a jungle out there).

And today specifically the thing I'm most disappointed about was that I felt unable to go to a coffee morning, or Bore Coffi  in Porthcawl organised by the local Welsh language society where you can practise your Cymraeg with a similar group of learners. That will have to wait for another morning.

I did go out to Bridgend Town today though as I needed to put some money into our bank account to pay a credit card bill. The plan had been simple. To go in, pay the money go home. But once out of the bank my throat suddenly felt raw. A hot drink down my gullet was needed,

And so I went to a coffee house. Costa to be precise.

I should perhaps explain hear that view of coffee is exactly the same as my view of rugby in that although I don't dislike it, given the choice nine times out of ten I'd go for football (my view of rugby being incidentally one of the few "Welsh" things that I haven't changed my view of since I moved here). Similarly I don't dislike coffee, but given the choice I would normally go for tea.

Dislike those coffee chains though. Always felt you needed a bank loan and a degree in beverages before entering. Needs must though so went inside and as I've a dislike of the tea served by these establishments I ordered a small cappucchino.

This is apparently what Costa considers a "small" cappuchino

Now those of you who have followed my posts know that at this moment I have five books on the go.Today is a "library book" day. I often take a book out with me as I like to read wherever the opportunity takes me.

The book I should have taken out was Christopher Hitchens' informative read. But it's bigger than a brick and so would have been awkward to take around. The book about Swansea City would have been awkward for a different reason. Those fans of the round ball in South Wales follow their team with a passion. Of course there are those who support Manchester United and Liverpool and when I first moved up here in the late nineties Aston Villa had their fair share of support. I'd assumed it was because Dean Saunders, a Welsh striker of that time was playing for them, only to have it patiently explained to me that the Villa was the closest Premiership team from South Wales.

Haven't times changed.

But of course the bulk of support is now between Cardiff and Swansea City. Bridgend, being a place which is roughly halfway between the two, is a sort of twilight zone where supporters of both live (If you go to the next main town along the M4, Port Talbot, then the footballing support turns distinctly Swansea).

Now fans of these teams can hate each other to a level that is best described as Glaswegian without the religion. Being English and supporting West Ham I'm seen by those supporters I know as neutral. So was just not in the mood to explain why I was reading a "Swansea City" book. "I like both teams" being particularly wimpish. So as I could not be bothered to argue I took the surprisingly entertaining Alex Salmond biography by David Torrence instead to pass the time in Costa.

For the record the cappucchio (which was probably as Italian as frozen pizza) could be best described as drinkable and nothing more. My prejudices about coffee chains have not been broken.

One thing I did notice that opposite the Costa was another place in Bridgend Town that had closed down for I think between two and three years.

The Welsh Labour Party/Labour Leader Carwyn Jones' Office (once)

Now the point here is not that Labour moved their Bridgend office from the town (Bridgend is a wide area) but they didn't feel able to sustain the office in the town. Something the local council (Labour) or the National Assembly (Labour) could not help them with.

Until the next time

Of Coughs,Chips and Book Updates

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

You know health wise there is no more irritating (as opposed to worse) thing than feeling as if you've been dragged through a hedge backwards and forwards again but not feeling unwell enough to head for the bed/couch and recuperate with a saline drip of tea.

I have been at work for the past 4 days and gradually a cough/sore throat/cold/ache that has developed to such an extent that when I returned home I'd enough energy to ping a microwave meal and a hot drink and that was that for me for the rest of the evening.

As I write this a day later nothing has changed. Except that my voice has gone down to such a level that it's almost subterranean.

So it goes without saying that not much has been done today. In fact tomorrow worries me more given that I've a dental appointment. One thing I had to do was to go to a couple of libraries to return some books and that was about the most energetic thing I've done today.

Of the books I've been chatting about previously I've finished Matt Dickinson's autobiography of Bobby Moore and I'll tell you that it was stunning. It confirmed things that I'd suspected and brought in a few surprises, the biggest being that his relationship with former West Ham manager Ron Greenwood was not as close as I had assumed as a child. What it did not do was to diminish his stature.

So a new football book was needed and when I went to Porthcawl library this was my choice.

Spanish Swans - Pablo Gomez

This is the story of how a group of Spanish players helped Swansea City moved from a position of near bankruptcy to its Premiership status today. It should make interesting reading. Personally Swansea City,Cardiff City and even Newport County are for me not unlike being very friendly with a woman but not having an affair as you're faithful to your wife, I genuinely wish them well and follow them, but if they face West Ham I want them beaten.


And that was supposed to be that. But as I was about to get this book stamped this book caught my eye.

Salmond Against The Odds - David Torrence

As you can guess this is an autobiography of the man who came this close to making Scotland an independent nation. Given how I feel about Wales now I just couldn't resist getting this book to borrow as well.

After Porthcawl I needed to go to Pyle library a few miles away to bring back a book I'd borrowed. Having done that I couldn't resist looking around the place which I consider to be the best library in the borough. Needless to say another book was picked. It was this.

Arguably - Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens was, arguably the foremost political essayist of his generation. Although I'm not saying that I'll agree with everything this collection of essays and reviews will say,I doubt I'll be bored.

Before I returned home I needed to get something warm down my gullet in a "feed yourself and starve the fever" sort of way. So instead of a normal sandwich this was my lunch today.

Hot Chip Action

Sometimes in life you need too indulge yourself. This was my indulgence for today.

In case you're interested the football stickers challenge I mentioned in my last post is still going OK. So far no doubles.

I'm now off to brush my teeth and have a cup of tea.

Until the next time.

Of Pelicans, Penguins,Panini and the leader of Plaid Cymru. With an added sprinkle of even more books and Maesteg

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

A couple of years ago I was having my hair cut and having a conversation with the hairdresser. For some reason the town of Maesteg, about half an hour away, was mentioned. She said that she'd never been there. I said I had.

"Why?" She asked

"Because I'm a world traveller" came my response. (Which on reflection was rather brave given that if there is one rule a man should always obey when it comes to gender politics it's never to annoy a lady with a sharp object around your face)

And one final point about the lady who cuts my hair. Her partner is possibly a woman's ideal man. A cook who doesn't like sport.

On Saturday I needed to go to the town and as it happened I'd learnt that the leader of Plaid Cymru was going to be at the market there around midday. Even though it is a well known killer of cats I was curious to see the leader of the political party I'd joined first hand.

So I hung around a bit.

What I like about Maesteg town centre is the way it can integrate the old and the new almost seamlessly. Obviously there are problems here as well but as I suggested yesterday it is far better than its equivalent in Bridgend.

I'm assuming this building is the local Tabernacle. Very impressive anyway.

The Building on the left is a Post Office

Now come now. Wouldn't you want your Council Offices to look like this?

The Town Hall and Market Entrance

I'd a few minutes to spare before she was due to come so looked at the book stall in the market. Just as Porthcawl has the Porthcawl Animal Welfare Service (PAWS) Maesteg has the Maesteg Animal Welfare Service (MAWS) which sells books at 50p each whether paper or hardback, I eventually picked four books as follows:

Fatima Beer - Higher Than Hope

This orange spined Penguin paperback was the authorised biography of Nelson Mandela. The important point to remember here is that it was written in 1990. The year he was released from jail.

I think I forgot to mention that not only do I collect Penguin paperbacks but I also collect their stablemate Pelican paperbacks (again it has to be in their classic coloured spine - in this case blue). What pleased was that I was able to buy two "vintage" ie pre ISBN numbered books.

A465 - Boris Ford (Editor) - The Pelican Guide to English Literature 7 - The Modern Age

A702 - Hugh Lloyd-Jones (Editor) - The Greek World

These vintage Pelican and Penguin Paperbacks are checked against the list written in a Paris Saint Germain notebook. Possibly the only time they can be put together in one sentence.

Believe me this is needed

And finally:

Michael Palin - Hemingway's Chair

Before you say "that's not a Penguin/Pelican paperback or anything to do with sports" well yes. But only the day before I'd downloaded a radio adaptation of this book and now it was there confronting me to buy it. So I did.

It was about twenty past twelve before she actually came. The life of a political leader in election time is obviously a busy one. I was in the market cafe with a cup of tea to warm me in what was a surprisingly cold day and had been ready to leave because there were other things I needed to do that day.

Leanne Williams is an impressive leader and worked the scene well.  She shook my hand and I told her that Plaid had my vote even though I'm English.. Wasn't going to go into full blown detail as to what lead me to this process or that I was now a member of the party as this was neither the time nor the place to gush like a girl to (insert boy band here).

Did though ask for a selfie...well it would've been a selfie if I'd known how to have used the phone. #OldMansProblems

Should've been a selfie

When I showed my wife later she was impressed. She too is going to vote Plaid Cymru,

Her visit to Maesteg probably means that Plaid they have a good chance of doing well here in the National Assembly elections. I think they're right. Based purely on the unscientific approach by the number of placards on the road from Bridgend when I was closer to the town.

I've finished A Point Of View by Clive James. Nothing has really changed from what I posted before. The only good thing about it really is that it has led me back to the podcasts.

What it means is that I need a new "Car book" and it's this.

Hunter Davies - The Fan

This is a collection of left field articles on football in the New Statesman by Hunter Davies. I've always liked him. He writes on a wide field of subjects interestingly and with enthusiasm

I'm a man in his fifties. But football and only football has the power of turning me instantly into a ten year old boy.And it occurred to me late last week that with the Euro 2016 coming soon it might be a good idea to collect a Panini Football stickers for my daughter as a souvenir when she gets older. I'm not going to deny that the schoolboy in me is part of the reason for this. But there is also the fact that this is first time Wales are in a major football tournament in my lifetime let alone hers.

My wife thinks this is silly. But I'm going to ignore her (for once). Until the end of Euro 2016 I'm going to buy 1 pack of stickers a day. How I will proceed after it finishes depends on how well I've done.

Of course I won't deny that this hasn't been completely worked out. The biggest problem being the question of what I do with doubles (as for obvious reasons I'm not going to deal with kids. I've no wish for anybody to put two and two together and make five). Hopefully though I'll muddle through.

Brings back memories

Until the next time...

Why Bridgend Town Should Vote Plaid Cymru

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Although it was the crisis in Port Talbot that pushed me over the edge to join Plaid Cymru there were various issues that moved me joining beforehand. One of them was the state of Bridgend Town which I visited last on Tuesday.

I do need to say is that I have no idea of facts and figures about what I'm going to chat about. Nor do I have a precise idea about the demarcation lines between the Labour controlled National Assembly for Wales and the Labour run Bridgend Council. But I have eyes and I can see the decline in a town where administrations both national and local appear to have done little.

The second thing is that I'm well aware that town centres everywhere have been affected by various issues such as the shopping on the Internet, out of town stores and of course the recession. But even taking that into account Bridgend Town compares badly not just with Pontypridd or Port Talbot but with the other main towns in the area Porthcawl and Maesteg as well.

Here is the first example. Admittedly the most extreme one.

More life in a tombstone

This building was, believe it or not the local McDonald's in the town. I'm not sure why it closed down. I think questions of damp was mentioned. That however is not the point. The point is that it closed down sixteen years ago. Sixteen years and nothing. Surely the council/assembly could have done something in that time to help revitalise the building? But apparently not.

Bridgend Town does have a small shopping centre called The Rhiw which also incorporates the indoor market. If you exclude the market I'd guesstimate that a sixth of the shops are closed or closing down.

This is the entrance the shopping centre. Next to it is a closed down shop that sold cards

The shop on the right was a charity shop

Latest to be closing down

And of course let's not forget the Phones4U shop. As if it was closed yesterday.

In the next photo the building on the left was a pub. Even some closed pubs can't be revitalised it appears (though another one is being restored through National Lottery funding....yes I know).

There are regeneration projects in the town. Though even they have issues surrounding them. Here's the first example.

Crane Action

That crane is apparently part of a project containing new apartments and retail developments. Now I'm not a retail expert and I genuinely wish it success. But what is the point of building something bright and shiny and don't try and first regenerate the decay around it? Those closed shops in this picture have been closed for about a year. The shop on the right had been trading for decades. I visited it on the penultimate day before closure when everything that was movable was for sale. The lady behind the counter was almost in tears.

The cultural centre

So example two. This building is a cultural centre. Again I'm in two minds about it. On the one hand I again genuinely wish it's success. Bridgend Town needs such a building. But have a look at this photo. It was the town centre Public Library until the council in its wisdom decided to move it to be situated next to the leisure centre (now called ....hold the sick bag....... The Bridgend Life Centre). It has probably become the only town where the town centre library is a ten minute walk from the town centre.

Oh and for the record I've been to the library twice. It's the most high tech and modern example I've ever been too. I also hate it with a passion best described as psychotic.

And if you want to know what's almost opposite the centre.

Still Life Model perhaps

All of this decline has been under for most of this period under a Labour administration. It's another reason why Bridgend and Wales need a change and in my view that change is Plaid Cymru.

Of course let's chat about other things in the town as well. It has the worst and my most favourite statute. Here's the worst one....

In front of the public lavatories. Seems appropriate

Now at first glance there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with this statute. But look closely. No one can position their legs or turn their head like our friend above. I don't want it destroyed though. It has a "so bad it's good" quality.

But on the other hand here's my favourite statue. A guy sitting and reading. Something I can relate to. 

Of course future generations will think that he's reading from a tablet

And a shout out for the Welsh Language shop in the town.

Siop A'r Hen Bont

Until the next time.

In Which I Forget About Another Book I'm Reading. Though Listening To The Podcast Was Better

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Today I collected my daughter from school. Now when I say "collected" and "from school" I don't mean that literally. Times have long since gone when Dad/Mom collected their child with a smile on her face from the educational establishment. No it has gone to the stage where the parental car is hidden around the corner as she gets off the school bus to walk to her parents and all the teenage thought at that moment is focused as to what there is for lunch.

So when I'm waiting for my daughter I have a little time to spare which is why there's always a book in the car to read.

Now before you ask why I don't simply bring one of the two other books I'm reading at the moment well sometimes I do, but often I just forget. So it's just convenient that there's something there for me to read when I'm in the car and opportunity rings the doorbell. It is,as it were my "car book".

The one criterion of the car book is that it has book of short stories or articles or essays. Something that can be dipped into on a haphazard basis. Like the current one I'm reading.

 Clive James - A Point Of View

This is a collection of essays from the BBC Radio 4 series where a speaker discusses various issues . Although there are a number of contributors to it his was the voice that drew me to the show when I recently started listening to the podcasts. I was always a fan of his work anyway (Indeed have admired the way he could chat about Russian literature and The Rockford Files or write poetry without seemingly being stretched) so I listened with interest and a recognition of the classic James style.

These essays actually began for him from 2007 until 2009 and when I saw this book on sale it was automatically bought.

Alas it has been a disappointment. For although there are subsequent postscripts these are the exact essays from the radio series but what it misses is of course hearing the James voice. The tone of reflective sarcasm. A voice that is relaxed,calm but nonetheless effective when in attack mode. A voice I would suggest comfortable being heard on Radio 4.When you have heard these essays in the medium they were written for then the printed page seems pale in comparison,

I should have realised that. It's my fault.

Can't win them all.

Until the next time.

Alone On A Sunday Afternoon With S4C

Hello there. Trust you're feeling well today.

I do not in any way have a glamorous job. But it's OK and my work colleagues are nice. Now it does involve shift working early mornings between six and two,sometimes in weekend. Days such as today,Sunday 10th April.

And on days such as these the wife/daughter might spend the day out somewhere. Leaving me on my own when I return home, soon to throw mini pizzas into the microwave for dinner. Which you might consider sad......if it wasn't for the fact that I have the chance to watch my TV recordings in peace.

Since deciding to learn Welsh again I've split how I watch television. One day it's sport. Mainly football of course but also bits of NBA and MLB thrown in (I'm a Red Sox fan. Picked because I follow the Spenser private eye novels of Robert Parker).

But the next day I would watch my recordings of programmes from the Welsh language channel S4C. The idea is as much as possible to immerse myself in the language for that day along with the radio station Radio Cymru.

There is a lot of rubbish spoken about S4C mainly from non Welsh speaking people who wouldn't want to watch it with English subtitles on (presumably they go around Wales wearing blinkers to all the Cymraeg around the place). Those detractors point to the low ratings of some programmes as some sort electronic ammunition to shoot it with. This of course is unfair. Because the biggest problem this one channel faces is that it is one channel. It's expected to be BBC1,BBC2, BBC3,BBC4,Ceebies,CBBC,BBC Parliament and the BBC News channel in just one stream. So a documentary programme about a dead poet in English thrown on BBC4 will rarely have a massive audience then a similar programme made in Welsh is obviously going to have even less than that as even if you're a fluent speaker it doesn't mean you'll want to watch it.

But as I will fight for libraries even though I will never read every book in one then similarly I will fight for S4C even though I will not want to watch every programme in it. For it is the main national promoter of Welsh and any diminution will damage (though will never destroy) its use.

And so today on my list to watch as follows:

Anita: A comedy about a woman and her daughter who moves from Cardiff  to Anglesey to be with her boyfriend and his family. It's funny warm and very amiable. It's also clever being able to combine English,South Walian and North Walian Welsh and yet I feel as  a learner able to understand most of it.

Prynhawn Da and Heno: These are magazine programmes for the afternoon and early evening respectively. They're useful for me  because they cover a wide variety of subjects in a general way. (The worst programmes for me are those that also require a detailed knowledge of a subject. These are pointless to watch. Recently there was a series about angling. Now the closest I get to fish is when they cohabit with chips on a plate before going into my mouth. Needless to say it was avoided.

Pobol Y Cwm: The long running Welsh language soap opera and a favourite of mine. I was a fan of the Sunday omnibus edition which had on screen English subtitles. It also taught me that translations may not give the correct phrase all the time. I remember "he thinks a woman's place is in the home" as a subtitle but I distinctly heard "gegin" (kitchen) and "gwely" (bedroom) being said!

Pobol Y Rhondda: A series spotlighting the people of the Rhondda Valley. A place that I've always believed is the Tuscany of Wales (should you believe that it's Italy with rain). It's a life affirming show. I've shown non Welsh speakers who live there this programme and they have become instant fans

Sport: I've a match of from the Welsh Premier Football League (yes Wales has its own leagues. Something I learnt quickly when moving here. I'll chat about this soon). S4C also shows Rugby at all levels in Wales and it's the only moment when I make the effort to watch it. There is a game with London Welsh in it today (though I can't say I quite understand London Welsh - they don't seem all that Welsh and they don't play in London). I must admit I'm not into rugby as much as football and again I'll chat about this another time.

Well I hope I've persuaded you to watch some programmes on S4C. If you're not in Wales S4C has its own on demand app and you can also watch it on the BBC Iplayer.

But if you excuse me...I've got some programmes to watch.

Until the next time....

In Which Promises Are Kept,Books Are Bought/Borrowed,In Praise Of Libraries And West Ham United

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well.

Well as promised in an earlier post I've joined Plaid Cymru. I did it on Wednesday by phone as I've an instinctive dislike of buying anything online that involves the use of my bank account (I go for those cards where you put money into the thing so that if anything was hacked only the money it would be the only thing in danger).

Anyway the process was surprisingly quick. The documents will come in the post in a few weeks because of recent demand for membership and there we go. My direct involvement in politics begins.

Actually things will move even faster in the next few weeks because of the elections for the National Assembly for Wales in May. My intention is to help them in canvassing for votes. Not this week mind you, because as it's the Easter break "Dad Duties" take priority.

At long last as well I've finished Football Dynamo by Marc Bennetts after quite a break as explained in my previous post. So let me say now the second half of the book was just as good as the first. I'd recommend it to you if  you can get a copy (published in 2008). It's the best book about football in a foreign country that I've ever read.

Yesterday I went to Porthcawl and part of the reason was to get a new Penguin paperback for my collection. Going through the charity shops in the town I eventually went to the Porthcawl Animal Welfare Society shop, staffed by ladies that you could easily imagine keeping colonies of cats in their homes.  It does have the largest number of books in the area and a great number of that were Penguins.

I had intended to get a battered copy of Anthony Burgess' book A Clockwork Orange. I've read a number of his books (including that of Enderby the poet and a novel about Napoleon which explained to me as a teenager the euphemism of the number 69) but not his most famous book.

However once my eyes focused on this book, being that of the previous pre ISBN numbering system then there could only be one choice.

1933 - The White Mile - Alan MooreHead

This is a book about the opening of the Nile to the world. Full it appears of many major historical giants. It does appear to be an interesting read....and it just cost me 30p.

I also needed to get a new book from the library. The football tome  I picked was this.

Bobby Moore - Matt Dickinson

The reason why I picked this book was more than just the obvious. As I've said before I'm from the East End of London and West Ham, being the closest team where I was born, is the team I support. Other than family and friends it's the thing I have missed the most in moving to South Wales. When they've come to South Wales I try to get the see them. Given that I live here I aim for the more convenient not-stuck-in-a-corner home seats. Of course what that means is that these games are watched by me with all the vocal emotion of a monk with a vow of silence as just one utterance will make those people surrounding me know that I'm not Welsh so that I'm not supporting Cardiff/Swansea/Newport.

Short trips across the border have been made to Bristol just to see my first love again. I remember over a decade ago going to Bristol Rovers to watch a pre season friendly. Ian Wright was playing for us and he scored. Afterwards he did that classic Wright thing of raising his arms as if to say "I'm Ian Wright. I've scored. Give me a hug."(He eventually joined the list of the ex Arsenal players who came to West Ham when their best days had long since gone. The only exception -probably- to this being the Welshman John Hartson)

Anyway Bobby Moore was the first West Ham captain in my lifetime and though this word is often thrown about nowadays like confetti he was a legend. I am looking forward to reading this, probably with large spoonfuls of nostalgia.

A quick word about libraries. I think you can guess now that I am a fan of and use libraries a lot. They a station for knowledge and imagination. With every closure of a library however this slowly dies. I heard the librarian yesterday say that in the Rhondda Cynon Taff area they have in the past few years closed fourteen libraries. Fourteen!!! You wonder how these councillors can look at themselves in the mirror. They're probably comforting themselves with their expenses.

This has thankfully not happened in Bridgend yet. Mind you there was a "public consultation" by the council last year as to what services people thought should be cut. I laughed at this. For it was like asking how they wished to be tortured,water or electricity.

Until the next time...

Of Books Read And To Be Read. And Why I'm Learning Welsh Again

Hello there. Trust you are well.

When chatting to you about the books in my first post I'd forgotten in fact that I was reading three books at the same time. As all these books have now been read reckon I should start with the book I hadn't mentioned which is.....

Danny Baker - Going Off Alarming

Took this with me when visiting my mother on the Mother's Day weekend. On the London Underground it took me from Grosvenor Road to Epping and from Epping to Victoria by chuckle. I've a soft spot for these autobiographies, particularly for its first volume Going To Sea In A Sieve. It evoked a London of my youth as the mayor seems to make the present day capital a land for for Russian Oligarchs to live in. Even if his is South of the Border and mine is of the East.

Of course Iris Murdoch could not be more different from Danny Baker and that it appears includes my reaction to this Penguin Paperback.

Iris Murdoch - The Italian Girl

One thing I will make every effort to do is not to go into great detail about the books I'm reading because I don't want to spoil it for people who want to read it in the future. So let me say this. It was a disappointment having been a fan of The Sea,The Sea. What it was was arty twaddle, For a relatively thin book it was full of unbelievable characters with unbelievable traumas in an unbelievably short space of time. The most I'll say about it is that it was readable...but that was it.

I didn't have high expectations of Neil Warnock's ghost written book The Gaffer. But that didn't matter because this is best described as amiable. Essentially it was billed as an entertaining slice of a manager's life and judged on that basis you did feel cheated. If I had to choose between the Warnock book and the Murdoch one then The Gaffer wins. But both would lose when brought up against either of Danny Baker's autobiographies.

So there are new Penguins and Football books to buy. But I won't be able to do that until later this week so I went to the shelves of the great unread and picked two books. 

This was the first one....

Paul Theroux - The Pillars Of Hercules

As the cover says this is a chronicle of his travels  along the Mediterranean around 1994. I personally find travel books more interesting when read years after the actual trip. The phrase "the test of time" seemingly suited to it. My favourite travel books don't just capture a place but also a mood. That said I must be honest and say that I've never read any of his books in the genre before or indeed any of his novels. Not because of a personal dislike but simply as there as there are so many books and so little time that I've never got round to reading one until now.

Mind you I have read a couple of short story collections with an American consulate official as a central character. They were alright but nothing more (and obviously they did not inspire me to actively get seek out others in his canon). I do remember that the best word to describe these books was "professional" but writing to a reader I'd argue needs to be more than that.

I hadn't actively sought out another football book amongst the shelves of the great unread but it just turned out that this was the book came to my sight next.

Football Dynamo - Marc Bennetts

As (again) the cover explains book (this edition 2008) is about Russia and football written by a British journalist living there. One of my favourite type of books in this genre is one that mixes personal experience with general history. It probably explains why for example my favourite about boxing is In The Red Corner by John Duncan, about the relationship between Cuba and the sport.

Anyway it is I can tell you a fascinating read. How do I know this already? Because I've already started reading it years ago and am halfway through. It was bought many years ago. Remember beginning to read it but then another book demanded my attention beforehand for reasons I can't recall and so it was put back on the shelf (with the bookmark still on the point I left it) to be forgotten. If there was a moment you can go "ahhh" at a book it's now. Not now though (so you can cheer).

Now to completely change the subject I've recently decided to resuscitate learning Welsh. Now before chatting about the present an explanation as to the circumstances as to why I'd learnt the language in the first place is called for. Because it came about by accident.

Many years ago and before we had our daughter my wife had a job which required her to work on Wednesday evenings. At the time I felt at a loose end and decided to attend evening classes on that day. So looked at what was available. I'd wanted car maintenance as my stock move with any problem in that regard is to panic and call the breakdown people/go to a garage. But there were no lessons on that day. There were though lessons in Welsh for beginners.....so it began.

I always say that in a parallel universe there is a version of me proficient in car maintenance. Of course in another parallel universe there is another super me who can speak Welsh and  know his way around a car.

Anyway slowly but surely I started learning yr iaith Cymraeg.Getting to a stage where I passed the equivalent exam in O Level and had only just failed to do the same in the higher level. I found myself regularly watching the Welsh language TV channel S4C and the radio station Radio Cymru and practised the language socially in such occasions as coffee mornings.

However when I lost my job and found it difficult to get a new one I slowly became depressed and found it hard to concentrate on other things including Welsh. I performed disastrously in my second attempt in the exam at the higher level. My heart was not in it so just walked away.

So I was in a sort of linguistic limbo. Nowhere near fluent but a thousand times better than "the cat sat on the mat"

Now I have work, and slowly my mojo is coming back. So I'm returning dysgu Cymraeg. What I know in learning Welsh the first time is that experiences are introduced to you which are absent if you only speak English even if you're living in the country. My wife is from Cardiff and I know that in some respects I know more about this country than she does because I can to an extent speak the language.

What I also know is this. Whatever personal circumstances derailed me from learning Welsh I have always believed that the language has to survive. Because if Welsh was lost then there will be a piece of Wales that would be lost with it.

Perhaps I'm an old romantic...but there you go

I find that I can listen to general programmes on Radio Cymru and watch those on S4C and be able to catch the gist of what's going on which is encouraging. In another time I'll chat about these channels but you're spared today.

So the beginner's books are taken out. The old papers are dusted off and ymlaen.

The mutations are once again to be tackled (and I don't mean the X Men).

Welsh Language Action

I'll chat about how it's going on in future posts.

Until the next time.

Why I'm Going To Join Plaid Cymru

This I must admit has been brewing for a while now, but yesterday I decided to join Plaid Cymru.

Obviously it's the South Wales Steel situation that has pushed me over the edge. I know Port Talbot and it's a nice town. Although no one would say that the steelworks were a thing of beauty there are many things to laud about the place. For example if you compare the town centre to that of Bridgend's I know which one is better.

You could spend a pleasant few hours wandering around the promenade near Hollywood Beach, near Afan Lido football club.

They seem to me to be a proud people with a great deal to be proud about......but all their achievements are now in danger because of the Tata Steel decision to sell off their UK steel business.

We have a Conservative government apparently happy to let cheap Chinese steel flood the market (It's China policy being  summarised in one word...surrender) and yet not lifting a finger to help the indigenous industry. The lives of steelworkers and their families may be sacrificed on the altar of right wing economic theory. At time of writing the UK parliament is not being recalled to discuss the situation. Presumably because the people affected are mainly Welsh,mainly non Tory voters and not bankers.

As for Labour both at a UK and Welsh levels they seem to be impotent in dealing with this potential disaster. I listen to the First Minister of Wales and all I'm feeling is compassionate waffle.

And so I'm thinking if a whole town is potentially damaged by this decision what is the point of Wales staying in the UK? If Wales had been an independent nation then its hands would not have been tied and good,decent people would not have their lives put in danger this way because they would have had a government that would have fought for them, and only them.

Which leads me to Plaid Cymru.

Now as I've said before this has been brewing for a while. Labour has been the dominant party of government in the National Assembly since its creation. Yet Health and particularly education services have declined on its watch thanks to its Tory lite policies. What I see is a political movement that is living off past glories to hide present day failings. They act as if they have a god given right to control Wales from the privileged comfort of the Senedd.

And don't get me started on Bridgend Council (well not for today anyway). Let's say for now I'm not impressed by the way they run the area with all the skill of Laurel and Hardy without the laughs.

The policies of Plaid Cymru were always something that I was comfortable with anyway but the news about the steelworks have made me feel that I should do "my bit" to bring about a fair and independent nation.

Life as an independent state would not be easy. Life never is and mistakes would be made. But at least the people living in Wales would have a greater control of their own destiny than at present.

Of course being English this all seems rather odd. But I can't hide how I feel. For various reasons I won't be able to do this for a few weeks. When I do though I'll chat about it then

Until the next time.

In The Beginning Then...A Trip To Porthcawl. A Penguin is Bought And The Gaffer Is Borrowed

So it was a Monday.

The morning essentially begins as it normally does with a cup of tea, my one true drug of choice. Later on I have to get involved in that delicate nature of negotiations that is waking up a teenager for a school day. I've learnt that parenting an adolescent in these is exactly international politics. For if you don't get what you want sanctions are threatened. In my case usually involving the hiding of her Ipad.

The weather has been odd. For the past couple of days people have been complaining of feeling cold even though when I've been doing the early shift the car windows were not frosted up. Today however when I have the day off the windows are frosty. Not that hard but enough for the freewheeling spray of the deicer.

But it was also bright and I decided there and then before I did any promised shopping to the wife I'd go for a little drive to Porthcawl and have a bit of a walk there.

And that's what I did.

Porthcawl is a small seaside town about ten or so minutes drive from where I live. I've always liked it because although it its not without problems (what town isn't?) it has a certain individuality to it. The high street for example has a pleasing mixture of national brands and individual quirky shops. You compare it to Bridgend Town which really is slowly becoming an urban suicide note and you understand the contrast.

The quirky little gem that is Porthcawl Town

Mind you I'm not saying that everything's perfect. Here are relatively modern apartments known as "the bottle bank". I'm not to be honest a fan. If only because of the complete lack of assimilation with the surrounding buildings. It's like wearing an England rugby shirt amongst a group of Welsh fans.

The Bottle Bank:A boil on the face of the town

But, and it's a big but, Porthcawl can produce views that could make you make you think you were in the South of France and not South Wales (of course if you ignore the temperature). Here are a few examples:

Remember this is South Wales

Just takes your breath away

Last one

And the point is this. Wherever you are in Wales you are never far away from an absolutely stunning view. Views that would make you stop and stare. Today these were the views that made me do exactly that.

On an unrelated point I collect Penguin paperbacks for when I was younger they were the publishing house with the widest breath and generally the greatest quality. But only those mind you with their distinctive spines that would make it look good on a bookshelf. I had made a blog about it but boredom made me stop, But now I'm reviving it partly. I'll go and buy one at whatever cost but won't buy another until it has been read.

Well after gazing at the views I went to a the local Tenovus charity shop and bought this in an orange spined edition.

Iris Murdoch - The Italian Girl

I've only read one of her books before as a teenager. Which was rather odd if you consider that The Sea,The Sea is one of my favourite novels of all time. But then, so many books, so little time.

Unfortunately for me I didn't see any football memorabilia in my trip so in terms of footy stuff I went for Plan B today. I'm going to read every football book in every library in the Bridgend area. Now when I say every book I'm not including any "football funnies" type thing. So let's say instead every "proper" football book.

Which leads me to the choice I made in Porthcawl library.

Neil Warnock - The Gaffer

I always liked Neil Warnock, a man that always seemed to represent the classic caricature of a British manager though that's not saying he's without talent. Anyway we'll see what this book is like.

Until the next time.