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| St John the Baptist Church in Whitton |
Even if you don't like football, you will have heard of Liverpool FC. They are more than a football club, they are a worldwide brand and a religion. They even have their own theme songs - such as "You'll Never Walk Alone". Over the years, they have often played wonderful football, achieving the dizzy heights enjoyed by all Champions of Europe.
Yesterday afternoon they were in Hull to play my beloved Hull City at the KCOM Stadium. Liverpool began the game in fourth position in The Premier League while my troubled team were rock bottom in the same division. And yet... and yet we beat them fair and square. Our lads played like real tigers. They were on it through the entire game, harrying, closing down, breaking out of defence.
It was a wonderful spectacle and when in the eighty fourth minute Oumar Niasse ran for their goal with only Liverpool's hapless Mignolet to beat, my heart was filled with unadulterated gladness as he struck the ball through the advancing keeper's legs to put us in an unassailable two-nil lead. Oh joy upon joy! Take that Ken Dodd, Paul McCartney, Lily Savage, Anne Robinson! Our boys gave your lads a helluva beating!
...But earlier in the day, there was a different kind of joy as I wandered by the southern shore of The River Humber. I had driven to the remote and tiny village of Whitton. It is the kind of place that you only go to - nobody passes through it, because it is at the end of a long straight road, surrounded by watery meadows and arable land, originally and skilfully drained by Dutch engineers in the seventeenth century.
Whitton is very peaceful and there's an old church there that was built with stones and other materials from a nearby Roman fortress. East of the village the land is protected by an eight foot flood embankment to save it whenever the Humber overlaps its shores.
It was a lovely morning for a walk and I was wishing I had set out earlier from home. When I reached the paint peeling silos and barn at Whitton Ings I felt thrilled by the images I saw before me but I must admit - not quite as thrilled as I felt when Niasse's strike hit the back of the net at 5.40pm.
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| At Whitton Ness |
I didn't know Ken Dodd, Paul McCartney, Lily Savage and Anne Robinson played football, let alone for the same team. No wonder they lost.
ReplyDeleteHa-ha! I was thinking of a legendary Norwegian commentary from back in 1981 when Norway beat England 2-1.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqZTP8-8wIs
I must admit that I'm not a sports fan and I don't get soccer at all. I know, I know! Before I get the lecture just shoot me!
ReplyDeleteThat's okay Red. I know that some men prefer embroidery and step aerobics. It's all part of life's rich tapestry.
DeleteInteresting about the draining of the fields. Are there actual dikes as well? We have old dikes in some parts of Nova Scotia, built by the Acadians (French). I can hardly fathom the amount of manual labour required for such a massive project. Our ancestors were hardy people. What do you think they would think of us sitting in front of little screens moving only our fingers on a little knobby board??
ReplyDeleteThey would think of us as pure science fiction. As for the dikes and ditches - yes there are many of them in that part of Lincolnshire. Without them, the land would be flooded and productive agriculture would be impossible. Now...back to my knobby board!
DeleteGreat composition in each photo, Yorkie. Lovely pics.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for you that your team won. That would be a huge boost for them, I'm sure. The locker room would've been filled with adrenaline! :)
Yes. It must have been a great lift for the players. Thanks for appreciating my pictures Lee.
DeleteThe red barn? The gatepost? The red barn? The gatepost?
ReplyDeleteThe gatepost by a narrow margin - great detail.
Alphie
Thanks for the expert consideration Alphie.
DeleteGatepost and thistle heads - this one is my favourite picture of the post. Great light, too.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your team's achievement!
Not thistles but teasels Libertarian. Thanks.
DeleteGreat minds think alike ! Great composition.
ReplyDeleteYP you're using your artist's "eye" to great effect. The gatepost and thistles (are they actually teasels?) would make an excellent watercolour, and I can just see it nicely framed and hanging on your wall at Casa Pudding.
Yes teasels CG though teacher's pet Frances below confirms alternative spellings. As an extremely humble fellow, I would hesitate to display any of my own artwork in our hovel.
DeleteThe tree is my favourite, closely followed but the lovely old gatepost and teasel
ReplyDelete, (which can apparently also be spelt teazel or teazle....I looked it up !!)
Full marks to you Frances for your spelling research. For this I award you a gold star to stick on your "I'm A Good Girl" chart.
DeleteOoh thank you sir!
DeleteWhen I wrote Teazel with a zed - it was automatically corrected and it's still telling me it's wrong !
DeleteGreat photos as always! I love that second-to-last one, with the tree and the puddle, and the peeling orange barns are nice, too.
ReplyDelete