The passage of time in Wellington and elsewhere
On Friday we were all together as Joe is soon off, to celebrate birthdays and as it was the first time for many months EQ was allowed out of Scotland.
A walk through parts of west London, including a view of the Almond Ave.
That was followed by Gunnersbury park and saying hello to grandmother and grandfather, plus a clean up of the grave.
Next stop were the gardens of Chiswick House before the lunch stop at Kew.
Nice.
Brentford’s manager, Thomas Frank, celebrates with Mads Roerslev after the win at home against Sheffield Wednesday in February. Photograph: Clive Rose/Getty Images
Head coach discusses promotion ambitions, social media and changing plans to see Ollie Watkins score for England
Fri 2 Apr 2021 11.00 BST
Last Thursday evening Thomas Frank was at home in south-west London, watching Denmark’s Under-21s on his laptop when, a few miles away, Ollie Watkins was brought on for his England debut at Wembley. It was the cue for the Brentford head coach to fetch the remote. “I turned on the telly and saw Ollie score,” says Frank, who worked with the striker for three seasons. “The story of Ollie is remarkable, from League Two to the Championship and now the Premier League and the national team. He is humble but worked very hard. With that you can get very far.”
Frank is hoping to guide Brentford to the top flight after coming within one game of promotion last season. The international break allowed him to recharge the batteries, a little respite from a gruelling campaign that began only 33 days after losing the play-off final. Getting off the hamster wheel, as Frank puts it, is tricky but the change of pace and spending a few hours with family, exploring Netflix or walking through the woods with Torben, a cross between a Shar Pei and an English bulldog from Battersea, was much needed. “I watched After Life. I tried to find something where I can laugh and cry a bit, and I did both.”
With nine games to play Brentford are hoping tears of joy lie ahead. Before visiting Huddersfield on Saturday they are fourth in the Championship, in the midst of what, ostensibly, is a three-way fight with Watford, whom they face in their penultimate game, and Swansea for the second automatic promotion place. “We are definitely getting into the last part of the race, so maybe we are not sprinting yet but we are definitely increasing the tempo, or trying to.
But at same time the matches are slipping:
3 April 20213 April 2021.From the section Championship
Brentford’s automatic promotion hopes were dealt a blow after a draw which edged Huddersfield closer to safety.
Lewis O’Brien took advantage of a mix-up between Bees goalkeeper David Raya and defender Mads Roerslev to put the hosts ahead after seven minutes.
Brentford equalised five minutes into the second half when Mads Sorensen turned in Vitaly Janelt’s cutback, before Ivan Toney hit the post.
Both sides had chances to win it late on but had to settle for a point each.
The point moves Brentford up to third on goal difference but they remain nine points behind Watford in second, albeit with a game in hand, with the draw edging Huddersfield eight points clear of the relegation places.
By popular demand- from earlier in the week. Almost as good as printing it?
A walk today that started from Trafalgar Square. The above was taken in St. James’ Park.
We walked from B. Palace to Westminster. In Parliament Square there were all the flags of the Commonwealth on display as part of a current celebration.
Later, after walking along the Southbank and then back across the millennium bridge and a moody image looking downstream.
Long term known to the locals as a local.
I seem to be struggling with the format of this thing currently, but here goes.
On Friday, the walk we followed was as action of the Capital Ring and the Green Chain Walk; the latter component of which did seem to be that much more pleasant.
In total the walking was about 22 Km, a little more than planned.
The end stop was Nunhead cemetery which has been close to admissions for many years and nature has reclaimed the area, and so it is very beautiful. However, there are a number of war graves sites, which of course, continue to be maintained.
I am starting to think on promotion, and that it is more likely this season, after a close effort last season with the play-off final loss. Brentford seem so resolute even if less exciting? In the news;
Brentford recovered from a poor start to win 4-1 at Middlesbrough and climb into the top two in the Championship.
Middlesbrough were 1-0 up inside three minutes when the Brentford goalkeeper David Raya failed to collect Neeskens Kebano’s cross. However, the visitors were level in the 38th minute when Ivan Toney tapped in after good work by Tariqe Fosu – and they took control after the break.
Vitaly Janelt (58) fired home from the edge of the box after the top scorer Toney had headed the ball down for him, Mathias Jensen (64) made it 3-1 following a slip from Paddy McNair, before Toney tapped in the fourth 10 minutes from time.
A beautiful experience with Shaz and Isaac.
Another late decision as the number of cases increase. So after all the confidence and bonhomie of planning for normality, the reality again imposes itself and restrictions to deal with the latest surge must be tightened.
So EQ stays in Scotland at least. Parcel services are to be used to quickly send presents up north. I expect there is a lot of misery across London and the south-east.
“Perhaps we should call this new Covid-19 variant the “Grinch strain”. As coronavirus in a mutated, more contagious form scuppers plans for festive gatherings, the front pages can do little to hang a bauble on the news. At least you could buy a copy of all today’s papers to keep you occupied during the times of suppressed joy ahead. Puzzle specials, added sections and other extras abound in these final Sunday editions before Christmas …”