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.

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.

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.

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.

Green Party Conference September 2012

It's many years since I've attended a conference, and my experience in the past has come from the NUT and Labour Party; for this reason I wasn't sure what to expect from the Green Party Conference in Bristol.

 Having joined the Party I knew that I wanted to learn and immerse myself in the culture of the party.

For personal reasons I was unable to attend on the opening day (Friday) when the formal hand of the party leadership would take place. Caroline Lucas would hands over the reins to Natalie Bennett. Since conference ended I have watched their two speeches and the speech of Caroline Lucas sums up exactly why I found myself atrracted to the party and why I would spend the next three nights in Bristol.

At 9am on Saturday morning I was in a workshop learning the ins and outs of conference, this familiarisation would have been essential to someone unfamiliar with this type of debating forum. On a personal level I found it useful, it jogged the memory and prepared me for the days ahead.

The main session of the morning was taken up by speeches from Jason Kitcat , leader of Brighton and Hove Council whose theme was Brighton's getting greener. This was followed by the handing over of the deputy leadership from Adrian Ramsay to Will Duckworth. Will gave a personal moving and humourous speech. He explained that after becoming a house husband after a fruitless year looking for work, he read every party's manifesto and discovered that the Greens agreed with him on everything, and he joined the party in 2008. He co-formed Dudley Green Party in 2009 and by 2012 he became the party's first councillor in that authority.

His description of the other parties strategy was spot on, particularly the Labour "hiding in the cupboard" analogy. As he said "forget the grey,it's the 50 Shades of Blue that get me hot under the collar"

I went from the main hall to two sessions that discussed media and stategy. Both were thought provoking, as I tried to adapt messages and strategy to suit my situation in Ingatestone.

The afternoon dealt with motions , a range of issues from working hours to animal racing. Late afternoon and I was sitting in the Compass debate between Rupert Reed  and Neal Lawson ( Lavour Party and Compass Organiser). Compass has been the one genuine non sectarian campaigning broad based body on the left in recent years. Based around the concept of the Good Society , Compass has engaged in debate on key themes, the debate on Saturday was on the issue of growth.  it was a well rehearsed debate, in part because I'd listened and read Rupert Reed's analysis via Green House. However Neal Lawson made on comment that struck a chord and I'll undoubtedly use again. He said : " We live in a utopia , the trouble is it's not our utopia, its one designed and made by neo-liberals".

On Sunday I made a beeline for a discussion group on whether to pay an allowance to the party leader. While Caroline Lucas lead the party this issue really didn't arise, as an elected politician, first as an MEP and then MP, she could fulfil party and media engagements easily, however there was a realisation that if the party was to advance the new leader would need time to devote to campaigns,meetings etc and this would be rendered ineffective if the leader had to find employment. It was an interesting debate with valid contributions on both sides. Ultimately it was decided to pay an allowance, again a historic decision for the party.

Sunday ended with a plenary session discussing party pollicy on disability followed by a panel debate on "What if growth doesn't happen ? A long but personally rewarding day, where I felt more attuned and engaged.

Back on Monday and an early session on Greens in Power, a discussion organised by the Association of Green Councillors. For the first time I felt inclined and confident to contribute, I was beginning to meet other delegates and interact. Later that morning I went to a feedback session where I could make some points as a "newcomer" both to the party and conference.

Overall this was an inspiring experience, and one I hope to repeat, to quote a headline I read on Guardian online : " They're jolly, they're green, and they might be giants"

The End of the Season

A win in the penultimate game of the season and Surrey are safe. A month ago our place in Division 1 appeared to be in jeopardy, but an upturn in performance has seen Surrey accumulate sufficient points. It seems that last season's champions Lancashire will be relegated, such are the turnarounds in county cricket.

The dispute between the ECB and Kevin Pietersen had at least one positive, it gave Surrey a quality batsman in the middle order when one was most desparately needed.

In recent months players have been changed more regularly than socks, and the selection policy has to say the least been baffling. In the penultimate game at home to Nottinghamshire, fast bowler Tim Linley took five wickets in the Notts first innings; all good you might say, except Linlay has been overlooked for much of the season.

Nothing highlights the problems at Surrey more than the treatment of Matthew Sprigel. For much of the season Spreigs has been a mainstay of both the CB40 and T20 sides. On more than one occasion he was steered Surrey to victory when defeat looked on the cards. Yet the Coaching staff have denied him the chance to cement a place in the county championship side. A player who bats, who has taken valuable wickets in limited over cricket and excels in the outfield, has effectively been an outcast from the county side.

I assume it came to noones surprisewhen it was announced that Matt was joing Northamptonshire for next season. No one could blame him, but Surrey have lost a local cricketer who has played for the county since 9 years of age. Even more bewildering was the fact that Coach Adams told the Surrey members forum in August that he regarded Spriegs as a player of immense potential. Actions and words seem some distance apart.

I'm sure many Surrey players will be delighted when the season ends, it seems that it will conclude with rain once again the dominant feature. A season that initially promised much has unfolded in ways that no one could have imagined. Perhaps everyone needs to put time and space between them and the Oval. Hopefully next season a clear pattern and strategy will evolve,and cricket will once again be fun and the sun will shine.