Note the dropping of the H. I used to know a former Norwich City footballer who lived in our village. His name was Ralph Johnson which won't mean much to even the staunchest Norwich fan. His career was wrecked by the second World War. He does have the distinction of scoring the fastest goal ever seen at Carrow Road - 10 seconds.
This was later equalled by Keith O'Neill but has never been beaten. "My mother came to see that game and was a little late to get to her seat. She thought we were kicking off and I had to explain to her at half time that I had already scored," he told me a few years ago. Anyway Ralph had a saying about modern day football. He used to use this saying a lot. "I played football in the days when men were men and Nancy was a girl's name."
Strange where this blog is going as I had no intention of mentioning Ralph when I started it. But I couldn't help thinking about his saying and referencing it to Yorkshiremen who as we know: "Say what they mean and mean what they say." So you can't pretend to come from Yorkshire unless you know that Slaithwaite is pronounced Slewit- yes seriously. The other threequarters comes from Yorkshire and didn't know that. I mention it because at the end of next week we are going to Uddersfield to see my favourite all time band who I may have mentioned once or twice - Barclay James Harvest.
They are playing with an orchestra for the first time in 50 years. The last time they did it, it virtually bankrupted the group. This time I'm sure their finances are on a sturdier level. The symphony orchestra they are appearing with just happens to come from Slewit. There was a lengthy piece about the concert on Radio Leeds. That's Leeds which is pronounced Leeds and not Loo. It was nice to hear some decent publicity for the band which is usually shunned by the media. After all they once played a free concert at the Reichstag in Germany to 250,000 people and another in East Germany to 170,000 people (yes 250,000 and 170,000 - they were very big in Germany).
They also have the distinction of once being banned by many universities including the University of East Anglia for playing in South Africa during apartheid. They also have a long standing disagreement with Robert John Godfrey who is the leader of another of my favourite symphonic bands The Enid. This is over writing credits to the song Mockingbird which just happens to be my favourite rock track of all time Godfrey claims he part wrote the song rather than just arranging it. There were claims and counter claims and the whole thing got very messy. It involved claims of breach of contract etc. The full transcript when the matter went to law is on the internet. It's over 50 pages long.
have started to read it but find when I do that my eyes become very heavy. Nobody really won and the band were virtually bankrupted yet again. Today both Barclay James Harvest and The Enid include Mockingbird in their sets. *. *. * Please can we have more from four men in a sauna I have been asked. Readers seem to enjoy my little skits on Norfolk life. Sadly today I can't bring you anything because as I entered the sauna there were only two of the four and they got out as I went in.
ut I can bring you a follow up entitled a man and a lady in the sauna. This was the couple I have mentioned before. Don't you just love it when you are with somebody and they come out with a very random comment? There I was minding my own business when he chirped up. "Have you been round Whitlingham Broad," he asked me? "Not recently but I have in the past, " I replied. "Did you know they used aggregate from when they dug out the Broad to build the shopping mall in Norwich?" And that was that. "Thanks for your company, " he said and they left. I was left slightly flummoxed.