That Was The Week That Was!

We got back Friday evening from a week-long break in one of our favourite places - The Isle of Anglesey. We visited many times when our son was small - he's 49 now so it's a while ago!!

We went there last September and enjoyed it so much, we decided we'd have another look this year. Last time we stayed near a place called Moelfre but this time, decided we'd go to the western side of the island. 

We chose Mountain View Lodge which is essentially, a large static caravan near the town of Valley. The accommodation was spacious, comfortable and well-equipped. There were two bedrooms, the larger double having an en-suite loo and there was free, fast Wifi included!!

The view from the decking gave the impression that we were in the middle of nowhere but the chippy, pub and 3 large supermarkets were all within a 15 minute drive. 

The only small gripe we had was that the A55 passed very close by. It's the main route to and from Holyhead port so traffic noise was a bit of an issue although we learned to live with it.

We never saw any rain - which from past experience is a very rare occurrence on a vacation in the UK - although temperatures were kept down by a pretty stiff breeze. 

I'd decided that The Duchess shouldn't have to cook and she should have a proper break so we ate out every evening, visiting The Bull at Pantraeth twice (excellent!), The Standing Stones at Penrhos (rubbish), The Liverpool Hotel in Beaumaris (fantastic steak pie), The Boathouse at Red Wharf Bay (good food but expensive) and the Thyme restaurant in the Premier Inn near Holyhead (good value, excellent food.)

The week passed too quickly but we took loads of pictures and I'll post an album on my Flickr pages when I finish editing them but priority one over the next couple of days HAS to be the gardens. Hedge trimmer, strimmer and lawnmower are gonna get some real bash over the next couple of days!

For now - here's a couple of shots to be going on with:

Anglesey sunset:

Night view from the bedroom of the accommodation:

The season ends...

 Saturday 13th May 2023

Handsworth Reserves 2-0 Houghton Main, SHCSL Premier Division.

A trip to Olivers Mount for the final football photo opportunity of the season. A bright, sunny afternoon gave the best chance of some half decent photos!

This game should have been played a while ago and was rescheduled for 6th May but then postponed again until 13th due to the Coronation proceedings on the 6th. 

Given the heat (around 20C in the middle of the pitch) and the fact that neither team really had anything to play for this was quite an entertaining encounter. Some nice football played by both sides. The work-rate and pace of the game obviously dropped as the heat and tired legs took their toll. The referee allowed a drinks break in each half so the players could take on fluid.

Handsworth took the lead early in the 1st half when Lewis Dalmedo rose highest from a corner kick and bulleted in a close range header giving  the keeper no chance. A second header before half time, this time a very clever flicked effort from another defender Theo "T-Man" Wilson, gave The Ambers a 2-goal cushion and to be honest, control of the game.

Both teams tried to play passing football but Handsworth had the upper hand and kept their two goal lead fairly comfortably until the final whistle brought the season to a close.

It was nice to be invited to sit with the team in the stand at the end of the game to enjoy a beer. I didn't get to all of their games this season but I've always enjoyed watching the team when I have been free to go along. A good set of lads with an excellent team spirit.

My photo album from the game can be found on my Flickr pages. Click the link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/62126085@N04/albums/72177720308275118

So - what to photograph next? Well, we have a short holiday near Valley, Anglesey coming up and with a couple of RSPB reserves and the airfield that was once RAF Valley nearby, I should be able to keep the shutter button clicking!

I understand that the new NCEL football season starts in late July this year (it seems to get earlier every season!) and I was also told on Saturday that 1st team pre-season training will start on 16th June when the new management team of Jon Froggatt  and Mark Ward will begin to assemble their squad for 2023/24.

Soon be back at it then! 

Time flies - whether you're having fun or not...

May 10th was my late father's birthday. He would have been 101 years old today but sadly, he passed away in September 1992 at just 70 years old. Dementia got him in the end.

He was a very quiet man and to be honest, we were never that close. I realise now that all he really wanted from life was a pint, a ciggie and his armchair when he wasn't at his beloved Sheffield Lane Top Working Mens Club.

He joined the navy during the early part of the 2nd World War and served as a gunner on a merchant vessel with a lot of his time at sea as part of the North Sea convoys. Most of his working life was spent at Spaffords at Heeley where he was a radiac operator, cutting steel bars for the manufacture of agricultural equipment.

Hard to think it's nearly 31 years since he passed away. Then again, it's hard to think I retired nearly 10 years ago, we moved to Norton 25 years ago and me and The Duchess have been married for 51 years!

As I said - time flies!!

Stat Attack

Typical Bank Holiday Monday weather scuppered my plan to attack the mini-jungle that passes for our back garden so I spent my morning sorting out my photo logs and spreadsheets. (That's right - photo logs and spreadsheets. Sad really innit?!)

Anyway, I can confirm that during the 2022/23 season, including pre-season friendlies, the Duchess and I have seen 48 games involving Handsworth FC sides, including 1st team, Reserves, Under-21 and Under 15.

Photo albums from all but the Under-15 game have been posted to my Flicker pages along with other Handsworth-related albums such as mascots, presentations etc. 

The 22/23 season efforts brings the total number of "Ambers albums" on my Flickr page to 330 since my first posting on January 6th 2015 when Handsworth lost 0-3 at home to Cleethorpes Town in a NCEL Premier Division game.

(The Ambers gained sweet revenge 4 months later when they beat Cleethorpes 4-3 in the League Cup Final).

Those 330 individual albums are made up of a total of 47,759 photographs.

The first photo I posted - on Jan 6th 2015 v Cleethorpes:

And the last of this season's images - from the Reserve side 0-1 defeat to Penistone Reserves in the Cup semi final on May 3rd.

Without blowing my own trumpet too much, my football photography has generally improved since my early efforts at Belper Town but I guess that's to be expected. If you learn from your mistakes then I'm getting a fabulous education!!

Looking forward to next season when I hope to get to some of the Under-18 and the Ladies teams games.

When does pre-season start please?! 😉

Changed the format!

Looking at the blog, I realised whilst the original colour scheme closely resembles the Ambers club colours, it's a little hard to read so I switched to a new template.

I think it reads easier!🤔

Here we go again...

 After an absence of 10 years, I'm going to have another go  at this blogging lark!

Not sure how far it will go or for how long I can be bothered to be honest. I guess we'll just have to see. I aim to avoid any of the controversy which basically caused the demise of the original "Norton Yer Life". I've learned to "bite my tongue" as it were! 🤞

Since my last proper entry, I've retired. March 28th, 2014 was the actual date of retirement and it seems like forever ago but as with most aspects of retired life, time seems to be passing more quickly as I get older.

My photography still mainly centres around football but my allegiance has basically switched from Belper Town to Handsworth FC where I am, for my sins, the "Official Club Photographer." Sounds very grand but it isn't really! It's a volunteer position I have held since early 2015.

We (Sheila and me) started following Handsworth after Peter Duffield left his post at Belper and then resurfaced at Handsworth. Several ex-Belper players followed Peter to The Ambers and so we followed too basically.

Never looked back to be honest. It's been an interesting journey and sometimes, a bit of a rollercoaster ride but in truth, we're happy to be a part of a well run, family club with brilliant facilities at Oliver's Mount in Sheffield. 

When we first became addicted, the team played at Sandy Lane, Worksop which meant a 45  minute drive to home games but the ambition was always to return to their roots in Sheffield. That objective was achieved in 2019 when the new 4G pitch was completed. The new dressing rooms and hospitality building were finished about a year later and so the set-up is complete.

The whole COVID debacle, with it's lockdowns and so on, massively delayed things but the club and it's volunteers, led by Chairman John Ward and his Vice-Chairman Steve Holmes persevered and the "off field" set up is now second to none. 

Unfortunately, the 2022/23 season hasn't been our best. A combination of injuries to some key players and a general lack of luck in some games has hampered progress. Someone said a few weeks ago that if it wasn't for bad luck, Handsworth would have had no luck at all!

I particularly recall one mid-season game when we hit the post twice, had an effort cleared off the line and the opposition goalkeeper played a blinder. Our opponents scored the only goal of the game late on to nick the 3 points. Sums it up basically!

Still, what's passed is done with and we look forward to next season with a new management team in place and optimism and enthusiasm amongst the Amber family as high as ever.

COYA!!!