I Love Old York!

Aside to the luggage difficulties in York, the trip was a gooden! The main purpose for me going is to help the school out and to get to know the kids that I will be working with over the next few years. I did it 2 years ago and I enjoy the best response to my work with that group because they have got to see beyond the 'bloke from the church' veneer.

We stayed at the Race Course Centre, which is where the stable hands stay when it's the York races. We were sharing it with another primary school and a 6th form college from Colwyn Bay. How disappointed the 6th formers looked when they arrived for a wild living field trip, only to discover they were sharing a corridor with 30 primary school kids. No late night parties for them, or we'd set the kids on them.

I really like York. I've visited it for years for camp reunions and planning days, but normally I got no further than St Paul's Church or the Micklegate Bar. So it was good having the free benefits of open top tours, guided walks, a visit to every museum and even Castle Howard (quite boring really...wow it's a big house showing off the wealth of local posh people who exploited the poor...are we supposed to be impressed?). The downside was having to shepherd 30 kids around with me. Also the tedious routine of having to go around gift shops looking at crap replica Viking coins and genuine Roman snowstorms and pencil cases. I did get a nice surprise in Jorvik, the Viking Centre. My photo taken 2 years ago, is up on the wall as part of the display boards. Another part of the entertainment was a visit form one of those Viking reinactment people. 'Danelaw Dave' lives and breathes the Viking life and scared the pants off the kids. He was good but I wish he would use the toilet and not crap out of the window on to the streets below!

I know a lot of people in York and it was inevitable that I would see one of them. Rob & Sarah met up with us at the bowling, but apart from that I didn't see anyone until the last hour of the trip where I saw Beth Tew (Criccieth Camps) on the York Eye. Sadly we were just getting on and had to rush off afterwards to get the train so I didn't have chance to chat. Tom our bus driver was up for an award for best ambassador for the city. If you get a chance to visit then I'd recommend the open top tour bus as a way of understanding the history and geography and social background to York. we even got to see the York Ness Monster!

Carrying a lot of baggage

I'm just back from the Primary 5 week in York. 30 kids and a load of staff jumped on the 9.30am train to York and spent 4 days there sight seeing. More on that in later blogs perhaps. Anyway, there's one thing that seems to have defined this trip for me, and that is luggage.
Being the only bloke in the team, it was left to me to load the train with all 33 suitcases. Getting them on is ok, but getting them off when the train is itching to get on its way to London is slightly more stressful. The train pulls up and its a case of chucking the bags off as quick as possible. With seconds to spare it was all off, but it never crossed my mind that other people might have put their luggage in there with ours too. It was only when an irate American chap retrieved his bag from the platform that I realised trouble was ahead! The kids all lined up, picked up their bags, and yet somehow there was still a bag spare! Oh dear someone was going to be arriving in London with slightly less luggage than they set off with.

That was the first luggage incident. The second was outside the Minster in York. The climb up the 275 Minster steps was made
easier by leaving our rucksacks with 2 of the teachers. However this put temptation in the way of the local crooks, and one of them sneaked up on his bike and pinched a bag, emptied out the money and put it back and swapped it for another. It was like a scene form Oliver as 3 kids got their cash nicked, before some good samaritan intervened. The culprit is locally known as Nigel Flynn...so if you are ever in York and near the Minster and bump into a bloke called Nigel...check your wallet.

That night we were on a guided tour around York and some of the group needed a pee. I pointed them in the direction of some bushes, only to discover that there was a rucksack lying amongst them. I jumped in and grabbed it and hoped it might be the missing bag. After talking to colleagues, we opened it up only to discover it was full of sheets, a towel and some other bits that clearly belonged to one of York's vagrant community. Realising our mistake we went back to try and dispose o fit quietly. Unfortunately a large crowd of tourists had gathered, the alarm of the solicitors( whose gardens the bushes lay) had gone off and so we just had to dump it and run. How ironic it would have been if that was Nigel's bag!

The final incident was getting on the train back. On arrival at the platform, the guard tells me that the luggage needs to go in Coach 'F'. 'What end is that on then?' I ask. "Well it depends on what end First Class is...either the front or the back. 'F' is at the opposite end to 1st" replied JO.B.Sworth of National Express Trains. Sure enough as the laws of Murphy go, we were stood on the platform with all the cases, and First Class rolls up along side us. It was a mad dash to get them from one end to the other, but with the help of some locals (not Nigel) we got them in on time and delivered safely back to Dunbar where the guards were very helpful...and the fact the train was running late had nothing to do with their enthusiasm!

Young Guns

It was the Dunbar 10km race on Saturday and somehow Andrew managed to get the responsibility of firing the starting gun. It was just like being back in Manchester. Young kids waving guns in the air and police lining the streets. Anyway the race went well from my point of view. I got a personal best of 38:04 and a can of Belhaven Best for my efforts. The race is sponsored by the local brewery so all runners get a can of beer. You can't complain at that!

Geeks Galore!

Over the holidays we ventured out to the big smoke of Edinburgh for the annual Science Festival. It was Emma's idea and I have to say I was doubtful about it. Why would spending a day learning about science be interesting? Anyway to my surprise it was all very interesting. Loads of robots, experiments, bangs, etc....and nerds! You see the festival is a showcase for how good the universities are, and they roll out their students to run the festival. Most were pretty good at doing their bit, but be honest, most of us associate science with geeky blokes and women. There were plenty of them with no skills in dealing with kids at all. Not that Andrew played on that when he went in the dark room for the 4th time (your'e only supposed to go once). The geeks couldn't contain him. But it wasn't just the students who were like that. Loads of boffin brain kids and dads too. If I was a bully I reckon I could have made a fortune nicking 50p from them. Anyway, hats off to them, they kept our 3 entertained for 6 hours. Whether it will make them interested in science is yet to be discovered...let me think..."Andrew do you want to play footy with all your mates, or do you want to go and operate lego robots with Sebastian and Rupert?"

IAAF World Cross Country Championships 2008

Had a great day out on Sunday watching the worlds top flight athletes taking part in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. As a runner it is quite inspiring rubbing shoulders with the best in the world. Our first encounter was the Irish legend, Sonia O Sullivan. She's the coach of the Australian women's team and there she was in front of us on the phone. We took position next to the junction of the small and big loop on the course. This meant we saw them running down hill as well as on the flat. 20,000 others were there and the races began. First the Juniors (Under 20's) and then the Seniors. We saw them all and half the fun was guessing the nation from their running style or outfits. For example several Africans went bare footed, the Egyptian girl went fully covered, and the Congolese woman just took her time (despite being lapped) and plodded in at 40 minutes. Emma can run faster than her and if her parents were from the Congo then things could have been so different! Also some amusing names...topped only by Gaylord Scilly (the sole Sechelles athlete).I have put a few of my favourite shots on here, but I have opened a Flickr account for the rest if you want to have a look.

Here's all the other pictures or see them as a
slideshow on Youtube