Very Sad News Puts a Damper On A Spoonful Of Privilege And A Dash Of Culture

I was told today that Keith Wardman has died at the age of 68. It is very sad news and a reminder to us all to enjoy life while we have it. I have not seen Keith for years but that fact does not really dampen down the sadness very much; he often sat next to me at Ushaw Moor County School in the 50s and as an act of friendship we played table tennis at my parent's place at 42 Whitehouse Court. I was reminded today that I had in the past likened Keith to a youngish version of comedian Bill Maynard and I stand by that, but only in terms of Bill's gentle delivery and smile rather than his wit. Keith was a friendly, long standing, and hardworking official at Esh Winning Football Club. As I say, very sad news.

On Tuesday gone I paid a visit to Imperial College London, together with some special friends, to listen to a lecture by Professor Tejinder S Virdee, FRS, Professor of Physics at Imperial. He has a long standing involvement with supervision and research at the Large Hadron Collider. It was a privilege to be no further than twenty feet from a man that can be spoken about in the same breath  as Sir Isaac Newton.  Mr Fawcett my science teacher at Ushaw Moor would have been impressed with my enthusiasm. It is true that Mr Fawcett's lesson was billed as science but I am not sure that it amounted to much of a science lesson; there again although little was learned there was much laughter during his session.

On the same day as the visit to Imperial we also visited the Globe Theatre in London to witness a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was such a professional performance and worth the entrance fee several times over. In our younger days we were not taught Shakespeare because one or more educational academics considered it too intellectual and academic for us; but that was tosh and playing with the value and potential of young lives. Many of us were underestimated! 

WB