Key Quotes

"Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist."
(Kenneth Boulding)




"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. "

(Raymond Chandler)





"Live simply so that others can simply live." (unknown)





"I cannot live without books" (Thomas Jefferson)





"Sport is war without the shooting" (George Orwell)





"New York is a great city to live in if you can afford to get out of it" (William Rossa Cole)





The secret of a happy ending is knowing when to roll the credits (Patterson Hood)































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Sunday 21 October 2012

A Future that Works

Saturday 20th October and I'm up and out quite early to get to London for the TUC's march and rally - A (Green) Future that Works - the addition is all mine.
No trains from my station at weekends at present, so it was the bus replacement service and then the chance to test my knowledge of the London Underground system when I discovered that the Circle line was closed as well.

I arrived soon after 10.15 am at Temple Station, collected a Green Party placard and leaflets and made my way to where the NUT were gathering.


There was clearly time to do some leafletting, so competing with the SWP, the Morning Star and various other left wing groups I endeavoured to distribute my leaflets while shouting my slogan "Cut Carbon,not the Public Sector". If nothing else this seemed to ensure that those that accepted the leaflet had some environmental awareness.

Soon after 11am it was our turn to move, and we set off at a snail pace towards Parliament. I decided it would be good to see the whole of the march, so I decided to pick up my pace and make my way further forward. Along Whitehall I mingled with large numbers of Unison marchers and along Piccadilly worked my way through Unite until I reached Hyde Park.

I soon found the Green Stall and handed in my placard and spare leaflets. It seemed far more interesting watching the various banners and groups arrive in the park, rather than listening to predictable speeches.

During the day I was interviewed by a team of American broadcasters who wanted my opinions on political situation of the Uk and what impact I felt the march would have, and then I was photographed by a Scottish Green Journal.
Really not sure why either selected me.



Altogether there was a good turn out of Green banners and members. I got the chance to talk to a number of people and with crowds estimated at 120,000, the march though smaller than last year's event was still worthwhile if unreported in the mainstream media.

Friday 19 October 2012

Neal Ardley



The procedure to appoint a new manager for AFC Wimbledon was thorough; apparently there were more than 40 serious applicants and these were filtered down to a final three. Eventually the decision was made to appoint Neal Ardley.

Neal Ardley is coming home is the general feeling, I watched him as a youth team player at Wimbledon FC, he graduated to the first team in 1991-92, he player for the club in the Premiership years, he was there when we got relegated at Southampton in May 2000. He stayed with the club and was part of the last Wimbledon team, by which time I suspect he was the club's longest serving player.

He later moved to Watford, Cardiff and Millwall, before becoming head of the youth academy at Cardiff City. However I suspect that as a player he will be best remembered as a Wimbledon player.

A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of attending a fundraising dinner where Neal spoke along with Terry Burton (now Under 21 manager at Arsenal) . He spoke about how he felt the night of the relegation at Southampton. He shared stories of how the Club that we all loved disintergrated. Later that evening he signed my Wimbledon shirt which had "Ardley 18" on the back. For some time now it's been framed and hangs in the room where I'm typing this blog.

His return to become the manager of AFC Wimbledon seems right, he knows the culture of the Club, he knows the history but also he has the coaching qualifications, the desire to develop youth players and the contacts in the game to be a success at the Dons.

Football Management is a precarious business, and uyltimately 99% of managers get the sack, but I desperately hope Neal's succeeds not only because it would mean that AFC Wimbledon progress but also because this story deserves a happy ending.

Tomorrow Neal takes charge of his first game away at Fleetwood. Last week he stood by and watched as a team selected by caretaker manager Simon Bassey  lost 2-1 to Cheltenham. Not the easiest game to start with, but I'm sure he is under no illusions. If the team had been playing well, the previous manager would still be here. Changes will take time, so all I can offer is good luck to both Neal , his coaching staff and the team tomorrow. Bring home the points.



It's all about the Bike !

Since the London 2012 Olympics I have taken a greater interest in cycling. It was the excitement of track cycling that was the catalyst. The tactics and spectacle of competition in the velodrome provoked my interest. In recent weeks this has spread further into road cycling aw well.

Our recent two week stay in Crete gave me the opportunity for a spell of concentrated reading. I started with Victoria Pendleton's autobiography, I'd started it before our journey but it's such a compelling story that I'd finished the book almost by the time we'd arrived in Crete. I'm not at all surprised that the book has been short listed for sports book of the year, it delves deeper than most autobiographies, and recently I compared it with Tony Adams "Addicted" as a book where the author gets beyond a catalogue of competitions & championships.

I progressed onto Chris Hoy's autobiography, a more straightforward account than Pendleton's but enjoyable, and particularly interesting in the early chapters where Hoy was trying to progress in a sport unfunded where practice was anything but easy. That Chris hoy has become Britain's greatest olympian this year means that I'm sure the book will be updated in the near future.

Finally I became engrossed in David Millar's book " Racing through the Dark".  This is very much the rise,fall and rise again story of a road cyclist. For most people the pages blow the lid off the secret world of road cycling.

I've also started getting the bike out of the garage. So far this has been simply to cycle down to the village to get the morning paper, but I've become interested in cycling around the area. My gear work needs work to ensure that I can climb even the meagre hills that Essex offers.

On my way to get the morning paper Inoticed that there was no where to park bicycles securely in the village. While I don't want to over emphasise the risk of theft, but with the number of people cycling increasing this is a facility that we should provide, and so I have now taken it up with the local parish council.

This week I've started to research social cycling and the possibility of establishing a social group in my village. Perhaps I'm not alone and there may be others who'd like to cycle around the area, but are reluctant to go out on their own.

Yesterday I listened to the two hour % Live programme on Doping in Cycling "The Peddlers". This week the axe finally fell on Lance Armstrong. From American hero and respected international campaigner for cancer survivors to disgraced sports cheat. The evidence points to the fact that he systematically doped his way to seven Tour de France wins. As I'm starting to research cycling round the country lanes of Essex, the news is full of EPO, blood transfusions and speed.

Sadly Armstrong's crimes throw a cloud over the whole of the sport; yet since the olympics over a million more people have taken to cycling. On Monday I found myself in Kensington High Strret in central London, amidst the buses and traffic , a strady stream of cyclists were commuting to work on two wheels. Cycling is booming, yet more needs to be done. Many more people would cycle if they felt safe on the roads, the number of serious injuries and fatalities is a major deterrant to developing a cycling culture in Britain.

In the Netherlands there 1.1 bicycles per head of population, is there really any good reason why Britain should not follow this example and go Dutch !

Thursday 18 October 2012

A change in the weather

Written 3rd October

To quote Bob Dylan " a change in the weather, it's goin' to be extreme". Bob wrote that back in the 1970's. If my memory serves me right, it's from "You're a big girl now" on Blood on the Tracks. That line has revisited me on the penultimate day of our stay in Crete.

I've woken with two differing sensations, the first is pain, my big toe is throbbing, the aftermath of our trip to the Gorge. I'm not that surprised as I've suffered from ingrowing toe nails for the past 50 years, and my feet took a hammering on the downhill section of Sunday's walk. The other sensation is that the weather is changing. I thought I could hear wind in the night, but in fact it was the sound of the waves. Having been near silent for the past twelve days perhaps this is a reminder that it's now October and autumn will soon hit even Crete.



In an attempt to get our legs back to normal , we decided to take a good walk around the old town of Rethymno, up past the Fortress before walking towards the sea. The waves are pounding the rocks in a way we've not seen before, the sea no longer a transparent blue is now the shade of grey familiar to anyone who has sat on a beach in the south of England.


For two minutes, no longer, at breakfast it rained. Now this would not warrant a mention at home, however in conversation with a local shopkeeper who was selling me a pair of sandals (the first pair I've had since childhood), she said that was the first rain since April. Stunningly she remembered the last time it rained well " it was a Sunday" she replied.

A summer of complete sunshine unlike in Britain. However that has not been good news to the people of Crete. Later in the day we spoke to a bar worker in the pub where we had spent time watching football and cricket during our visit. She said September had been a good month, but in comparison July and August had been poor. The reason, extreme heat. Temperatures had reached the mid 40's centigrade. Now whether the heat kept the tourists away is probably unknown, we sense that some people across Europe have been apprehensive about travelling to Greece. Scare stories about the Greek economy undoubtedly haven't helped.

My mind turned yet again to extreme weather. In Britain we had drought in early spring and high levels of rain throughout summer. In Crete no rain and intense heat, a similar pattern has occurred in much of the USA. As October brings the end of the tourist season , this was another sharp reminder that the effects of climate change are many, while our experiences have been different, both changes will have had an impact upon food production in this sense the effects of "extreme weather" are shared.

Monday 15 October 2012

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger !

Written Monday 1st October

It's the morning after and I'm sitting on the hotel balcony writing,the pain in my feet especially my big toes seems to be going, only the dusty boots just in my vision give a reminder of the day gone by. Overnight my thigh muscles and especially my calves have tightened, frankly I'm walking stiff legged reminscen of a cowboy without a horse. Why the discomfort ? Yesterday we chose to walk the Samaria Gauge.

When this trip to Crete was being planned, a gorge walk was built in to the schedule. Being the type of person that I am, I rejected the easier Imbros Gorge and argued that if we were going to do one, it should be the Samaria, the largest gorge in Europe.

Picked up at our hotel soon after 6am, yes that early on a Sunday morning, we travelled by coach though central Crete , as the sun came up we drove through field upon field of orange groves. The guide informed us that here the soil was so fertile that they can harvest oranges twice a year, and there is no need for artificial fertilisers. By 9am we reached the start of the walk , we got our ticket to the National Park (50 years old this year), and now owned by the Greek government.


The first four stages were virtually a continuous descent, down jagged , irregular steps. It started at over 4000ft and ended on the river bed below. The zig zag path Xyloskalo took us down 3300 ft in just over a mile. Water breaks provided relief and an opportunity to come face to face with a Cretan mountain goat.


We crossed the river,which in late September was more like a stream, and eventually arrived at the deserted village of Samaria. The last inhabitants left in the 1960s. It was hard not to think of the lifestyle of those people living their lives in such an isolated location, with donkeys as the only feasible method of transport. We decided that this would make a good stopping point for an early lunch, however the spinach pie that I bought with me, attracted a number of wild bees. Samaria has many seemingly attracted by the wild thyme whose scent hangs in the air.


Onwards upwards and then down through the narrow passageway between rocks and on to the coastal resort of Agia Ronmel. It took us five hours, and I've to write about it. Thirteen kilometres across rough terrain, a challenge and one that many tourists would be ill equpped to deal with.  Apparently in high season 2000 a day trek through the gorge, yesterday's temperature of 33 degrees was dehydrating and however much water I consumed the thirst returned. I celebrated completing the walk with a beer, a mistake as I soon follow it with orange juice and two cokes, such was the extent of my dehydration.

Our journey home allowed us the opportunity to view part of the south coast of Crete from the vantage point of a ferry. The sea was as still as I've ever experienced, as we glided along the Libyan Sea . The south coast of Crete so unspoilt and unlike much of the north coast with it's enclaves of EU tourists and those from further afield.


The ship allowed a distant view of Gavdopula and Gaudos. I calculated that Gaudos was indeed the southern most point of Europe and indeed it is. Nest stop Africa. I took satisfaction in seeing it, and thought of those from North Africa who have desparately tried to reach such islands to escape conflict.

Our day trip once again put us in the position of being in a minority, heavily outnumbered by German tourists. The Cretans are exchanging sun for Euros. The previous morning we had visited a local market, and witnessed the vast range of locally grown fruit and vegetables as well as local olive oil, honey,eggs etc. Sacks of oranges , courgettes and tomatoes on sale. This is an amazing land.

The tour operator Thomson market the trip to Samaria as a walk, frankly that is akin to saying the Tour de France is a bike ride. The Samaria Gorge is a hike, a trek and indeed a challenge. A walk in the country it is not.

Friday 12 October 2012

Minoan Magic

September 28th 2012

Yesterday we travelled to Knossos and Iraknaio to explore "minoan magic". I've long felt that Ancient Greece and mythology in particular have been sizeable gaps in my knowledge. It's strange that I spent 13 years at school and somehow such a rich civilisation by-passed me. Once I moved into higher education I was immediately drawn to modern history and even in those years when I taught history the curriculum jumped from the Stone Age to Roman Britain without considering Ancient Greece.


Our journey to Knossos was spent learning something of the history of Crete. It soon became apparent that because of its strategic importance in the Mediterreanan it has undergone several invasions, from the Venetians and Turks of course through to the Nazis in the second world war.


The Palace of Knossos owes much to a British archeologist Sir Arthur Evans ; however walking around the site of the labyrinth one is immediately struck not by the gap between Minoan Crete and 21st Century Europe , but more by the similarities.


Some 5000 years ago the people of Minoan Crete had invented a method to move water around the site of the palace, they had constructed a sewage system and even had a rudimentary air conditioning system. Food was stored to allow 500 or more people to live there.


We saw early board games and signs of primitive athletics. It is easy to point out the bizarre rituals and beliefs in gods that involved both human and animal sacrifice,but at times our own world defies rational explanation. All in all I came away having learned a good deal about Gaia, the half bull/half man Mitator and how the expression "take the bull by the horns" exists not only in the English speaking world but also in ancient Crete.

General Strike

26th September 2012 - General Strike in Greece

We were supposed to be visiting Knossos today and the Archeological museum in Irakleio. However unlike the tour representative we were aware that the 26th is a general strike in Greece.

Over the past few days I've noticed a few posters fly-posted on empty buildings around town, but that aside there was little around the town to make the public aware of the pending strike. For most local businesses trying to take advantage of the last weeks of the tourist season it was very much "business as usual".

Today walking around Rethmyno the only sign that there was a strike was the number of teenagers crowding around certain bars and cafes. The local school teachers and the university are obviously closed. It is little wonder that the public sector are taking industrial action given that the three party conservative coalition is proposing a 15% pay cut, on top of last years 15%. Not surprisingly the people are saying that they can't withstand another bout of austerity.

The Greek TV stations and BBC World ( our main source of news) focus on the march and demonstration in Athens. Greek TV suggested that 50,000 marched on the Greek Parliament. That figure came from the Grrek police and is widely reported as an under estimate. However the media rather than focussing on the 50,00 peaceful demonstrators prefers to show a relatively small number who sought to engage the police in armed combat.

The message is that the public are telling the new government that took power only in June, that they will got accept austerity quietly. Meanwhile in Crete the sun shone and mosttourists seemed blissfully unaware.

Thursday 11 October 2012

Chania and beyond

I've wanted to visit Crete for best partof 30 years or more. I recollect in the late 1970s watching a TV drama entitled "Who pays the Ferryman ?" which was set on the island and I was thrilled by the scenery especially the harbour views. Life has a way of delaying plans and as a result I reached Crete in late September 2012.

We're on a tour named "Discover the West", determined to avoid hiring a car we've booked three coach tours and plan to use public transport (buses) for any other journeys. The tour centres on the town of Chania. Once in the old town it offers the charm,bustle and harbour that I've been hoping to see. Obviously at this time of year tourists outnumber Cretans but the setting still retains its character.


We sat in a harbourside cafe to have lunch, to our left a Mosque built when the Turks invaded Crete has been converted into a craft market (no comment). I succumbed to a plate of grilled sardines (I've told myself that I will not eat a diet of fish this holiday), but the sardines are excellent washed down by a Mythos. We watch as horse and carts go by.


This is perhaps the first European holiday I've experienced where British tourists are obviously outnumbered. The dominant grouping obviously comes from Germany, with a fair number of Dutch as well. In the current economic climate the number of German tourists is significant, Greece could certainly use the Euros that they spend here. The local population work hard, the season will be over by November. As before my thoughts are drawn to the propaganda in some of the UK media, that the plight of Greece is the result of the Greek people shunning hard work. Yet again my experience is completely the opposite, those o working in the restaurants and hotels are working tirelessly often without a day off in a week.

Crete we are told has a million olive trees , our guide on the coach suggests that many of those working in Chania will return to the land when the tourist season ends. I'm not convinced.

Crete is the largest of the islands I've visited, in its current situation you might expect a Cretan separatist movement to develop, but we've seen no signs of that. Instead Cretans we've spoken to are proud to be Greek, they've been invaded many times perhaps that explains this pride and determination. We've been here only three days but I sense we have so much more to see and learn.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Terry Brown's Yellow & Blue Army

(written Wednesday 19th September , uploaded 9th October)


A day of very mixed emotions; people follow football clubs with their heads and hearts. My head had told me for some little while that the time was right for managerial change at AFC Wimbledon. In football talk the manager and the coaching staff had taken the Club as far as they could.

Results this season have been poor, and as weeks past the only strategy appeared to be to loan more players. Fans and I suspect players could see that there was no masterplan and little or no pattern of play. The Board a few weeks ago made an announcement that they had spoken to the management team about the seriousness of the situation; however results have not improved and two defeats at home in three days was the tipping point.

Last night after a 1-0 home defeat to Torquay, Terry Brown walked around the ground applauding fans, who in turn reciprocated. The bulk of those present were aware of what was taking place and they all appreciated all that Terry Brown had done for the Club.. He arrived when we were languishing in the Ryman Premier League. The aim to get to the football league in ten years had stalled. Terry Brown refired the engine, promotion to Conference Football was achieved via the play offs and of course two seasons later AFC Wimbledon reached the football league via the play offs and the dramatic penalty shoot out at Eastlands.
It only took 9 years, was in no small part possible because of Terry Brown.

As he walked slowly around the ground, the mood was reminiscent of the scenes when Brian Clough left Nottingham Forest. Fans remembered the good times rather than the predicament that it now finds itself in.

The Club now needs to find a new manager.I sense that every manager, even the greats, have a sell-by date, but like people in other forms of employment they rarely leave at their peak. Sadly for every AleX Fergusson or Arsene Wenger there are many who never peak or who stay too long.

Terry Brown is a good man, a decent person who has had to cope with much during his time at the Club> He deserves to be respected for his past successes not the past couple of months.

Postscript(Saturday 22nd Sept).
It's late afternoon and I'm sitting in my hotel room in Crete. I'm following Wycombe v AFC Wimbledon on my ipad as Simon Bassey wins his first game in charge as caretaker boss. It has also been revealed that the Club has asked Dave Bassatt to act as a consultant as he and the AFCW Board will interview candidates for the managerial position over the next week or so.