On Saturday, Mrs Pudding and I travelled by train to Derby. There we watched our team - Hull City AFC - take Derby County to the sword in the first leg of the Championship playoff semi-final. Oh what joy when talented fullback Andy Robertson executed the coup de grace in injury time. 3-0 away from home! Surely there is no way back for The Rams and The Tigers will be on their way to Wembley for the final on May 28th when we will no doubt be playing Sheffield Wednesday for a place in The Premier League.
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| Statue of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor outside Derby's stadium |
After the match, we walked along The Derwent River Path back into Derby city centre. It was a sunny day and local Derbonians or whatever you call them were sitting in the riverside gardens. We spotted a bronze statue of a boy on a ram and I asked Shirley to put her Hull City scarf round the lad's neck so I could snap a picture. Unbeknownst to me, a few yards away a member of a social group sitting on the grass started cursing at us. I heard him but thought that the cursing was all internal. It must have infuriated him even more to watch me utterly ignoring him. Damned pipsqueak!
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| Irongate, Derby - looking to the cathedral |
We wandered into Derby Cathedral where I photographed the tomb of Bess of Hardwick - a very influential figure in aristocratic circles during the second half of the sixteenth century. Go here if you would like to know more about her.
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| Bess of Hardwick's tomb |
Feeling quite peckish we ventured into "The Kitchen" on Sadler Gate. We ordered pots of tea and sandwiches and then as an afterthought asked the waitress to bring us one small side of chips (American: french fries). Underneath the sandwich section of the menu the words "Add a small side of chips for £1" appeared. Though £6 each the sandwiches were delicious but when the bill came I noticed that we were being charged £3 for our small bucket of chips.
Naturally, I challenged this firmly but politely. First with one waitress and then another and then the manager came out but I insisted that I had clearly ordered the small side of chips and not what they laughingly called a "large bucket" and there was no way I would be paying £3. Finally, he caved in. It was the principle and maybe ironically to them, I left £2 as a tip for the first young waitress who had made the original mistake. I was quite proud of myself for staying calm and insistent and not getting over-heated.
The train back to Sheffield takes little more than thirty minutes - swishing along The Amber Valley seeing flashes of places where I have plodded including the intriguing ruins of Wingfield Manor. A Hull City chant lingered in my mind which I shall share with you now. Please sing along to the tune of "The Sloop John B":-
Steve Bruce had a dream
To build a football team
Signed Diame and sent Ben Arfa back home
Dawson at the back
Abel in attack
We are Hull City - in amber and black!
Dudududududu!
I hope this post hasn't jinxed your chances for tomorrow night, but I wish HCFC well for Steve Bruce's sake. And yes, it would ironic for you if the final is against Sheffield Wednesday.
ReplyDelete"We're coming for you! We're coming for you-ou-ou! Sheffield Wednesday! We're coming for you!"
DeleteDerbonians -- LOL! Clearly they take their football seriously. As do most football fans, it seems. And good for you for sticking to your guns on the restaurant tab and then showing it wasn't really about the money, but the principle!
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you appreciated my position regarding the side order Steve. Obviously, it would have been far easier to just give in but I am not that kind of bloke. My mother would have been proud of me for standing my ground
DeleteDidn't realise you were a football man. But I admire your stand on the chips.
ReplyDeleteI have supported Hull City since 1964... that's 52 years.
DeleteSorry, but I won't be able to sing along since I have no idea what "The Sloop John B" sounds like.
ReplyDeleteYou did right in insisting on having things sorted out at "The Kitchen". Charging 6 quid for a sandwich seems criminal in the first place, but then tripling the price for your chips is outrageous.
I hope the sandwiches were as good as you could expect at that price!
Oh, and congratulations to "your" boys for winning!
DeleteYes. The sandwiches were pricey but they tasted good. It was the tea that bemused me. They brought a small pot filled with hot water and a tea bag still in its pouch. All English people know that it is important to put boiling water on to your teabags. We had to have two little pots - £2 each.
DeleteI, too, am glad you stuck to your principles in the café YP. They probably thought you were tourists (did the scarves give the game away??) and decided to decided to make a bob or two out of you !
ReplyDeleteYou are more cynical than I am CG! The waitress freely admitted her error yet still they wanted an extra two pounds from us!
DeleteYou had a wonderful day. What could be better? A train ride, wonderful weather, a great game of football, healthy food and lovely company. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIt was a lovely day out. To win such an important game put big smiles of the faces of Hull City fans everywhere.
DeletePeace Thyme....Where have you gone? I love to read (translate: lurk) your blog, but it seems to have vanished? Are you....finished????
DeleteHilly - she told me she feels her blogging has dried up and would be uninteresting but I hope she comes back when a diffrent mood takes hold.
DeleteSounds like a fun day out. LOVE your pic of the boy on the ram...the scarf is the perfect touch! You should have had Shirley sit behind him ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhy do people no longer realize that THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT? In the name of good business, you should be treated as the guest you are in a restaurant. I rarely go back to a restaurant where after the first pouring of coffee, they seem to forget that we exist. I drink my coffee HOT and I want it refilled every 7 1/2 minutes, give or take ;-)
Thanks for sharing your outing with us!
"The customer is always right" is becoming a quotation from history, rather than a motto for modern businesses - some of which seem to live by the motto "The customer is a dumbass pain in the neck".
DeleteYou like to live dangerously. First you insult some low life and then somebody tries to pull one over on you with your bill. that trick happens here once in awhile. they don't like it when you call them on this trick.
ReplyDeleteYeah Red - I live on the edge. Maybe I should go hang-gliding later today.
DeleteIf you do - don't forget to ask Shirley to take some pics. !
DeleteYa, get Shirley in another glider so she can get photos at eye level!
DeleteSorry...I missed this post until now. The past couple of days have just disappeared.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you didn't tell that pipsqueak to ram it, Yorkie. You showed great restraint! I'm sure you thought it, though! :)
As for the chips....that price is astronomical...how big was the bucket???? I, too, would've brought up the subject to management, too....again, you're to be commended on your restraint. It's always the best way, isn't it?