Tigers v Wolves

Last Friday I took the train to Leeds then to Castleford. I visited Alan and Lynne at their home which over the years has become my second home. What memories that house holds for me.

My bedroom is on the right of the photo. When you open my Blog you see a photo of a bed and the sign that I have gone to Berlin. That is my bed and it is in this bedroom.

The back has a really large garden and a double garage. It has a very relaxing, homely atmosphere. A&L met me at the station and we soon caught up on family and other news. This included talking to Paul and family in New Zealand via Skype. Alan has been to a computer course and now has a laptop. Well done Alan!

On Sunday I met them at their local Baptist church. Nice friendly welcome and I sat with Alan at the front. Lynne played piano. As usual I paid attention to the preacher’s sermon. This was very ‘self enclosed’ based on a quote from the Bible supported by other biblical sources. Critical analysis would have to start with the first quote. Alan likes how I interpret such things and says I seem to notice more that he does, but then I come with an atheist’s perspective!

After lunch we went to see Castleford Tigers play Warrington Wolves. On my own I would never think to go to a rugby match but they are keen supporters of Cas Tigers. We met Linda and Lynne sat with her in the wheelchair-disabled section. Linda is also a keen fan and I enjoyed seeing her again.

I had to smile at the Yorkshire dialect used by all around me and the comments at players and particularly at the referee. Try these – ‘Is tha blinnnnd ref’, ‘Nay, that’s not reeeet’, ‘Thaaas a blitharin idiot ref’.  I even bought a small book called ‘Yorkshire – English’. Should have fun with that back in Berlin with my students!

You can see the teams warming up helped by a team of ladies dancing and jumping about to very loud pop music. It certainly created a happy and friendly atmosphere. Sadly Cas lost by 32 to 44 against the Wolves. I always thought a tiger could eat/see off a pack of wolves. In this case, not. Even so, a great afternoon and weekend in Casland.