Golf and work

Golf and work have dominated the last month and left little time for other activities. However, I have finished "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" by Alison Weir and was hugely impressed by the depth of her coverage. By the time I had finished reading this tome I couldn't remember which of the wives I preferred - I wonder if Henry could make a decision? As I came to the end I pondered how much research Alison Weir had done - the 38 pages of bibliography at the end gave some indication.

The run of golf started at half term when, along with 7 other colleagues from Colston's we challenged Clifton College Prep School Staff to a Ryder Cup type challenge. On the first day at Dewstow Golf Club I partnered Keith Watts in the first series of matches (18 holes of foursomes) on the Park Course and we won quite comfortably. In the afternoon it was a different kettle of fish in the 9 hole four ball match on the Valley Course when Dylan Kaye and I went 4 down after 4 holes, but we were more than chuffed to halve the game on the last hole. We then drove to Brecon and spent the night at the Wellington Hotel. The next day we played 18 holes of singles at Cradoc - a fantastic course in the Brecon Beacons that we have played often in the past when on staff camps over the summer half term at Llangors. Another exciting game which I won on the 18th and secured the points to win the overall competition. Not the best of weather as it rained all day but the comaraderie of the event and the lovely golf course more than compensated.

Whilst I was playing in Wales Wendy had an enjoyable day at the Ladies Open at Saltford as a guest of Hilary Griffiths. Wendy is growing in confidence with her golf and now regularly plays in the Ladies friendly teams for Filton. She was delighted to win her first game against Shirehampton but was teased by me when she confessed that one of her opponents was 88 years old. Not the oldest lady golfer we have heard of - when we played at Cirencester in a charity golf day (as guests of Capita who supply the software for our school database) there was a lady member who was 100 years old and still playing regularly. She had no difficulty in getting around but needed partners with good eyesight to spot where she was hitting the ball! The Charity event was a fantastic day in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and particularly enjoyable for the company of the Cirencester members Debbie Organ and Barabara Pellow from Capita.

Wendy and I have also played at Henbury recently, although Wendy's knees did not appreciate the steep hills (particularly going down) and had a very enjoyable day in the Open Mixed Greensomes with Howard and Hilary Griffiths at Filton. Wendy has also played at Lansdown recently and produced her best score of 111 (35 points) in the latest medal at Filton.

I have played more regularly at Filton and even played in the Seniors Open. Although not achieving my best score I really enjoyed the company of Bristol Rovers legend Harold Jarman in this event. Harold is a member at Henbury and at the age of 70 is very fit and playing well.

Despite all this golf I have been getting more than my 3 days a week in at Colston's, in particular working to get the school's database ready for the next academic year. Plenty of opportunity for photographs but would have liked to have spent more time on cricket photos for which I have had only limited opportunity. It was good to see Chris Taylor and a number of his contempories in an Old Boys XI in a match against the Headmaster's XI.

Only two weeks of term left: assessments to complete, a trip for Wendy and me to Wimbledon, another school trip to Techniquest in Cardiff, all the end of term events including Parents SocietyBall and Leavers Ball and it will be a holiday in Corsica. Can't wait!