World Cup Qatar 2022 Blog

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Day 21

WORLD CUP FINAL 2022 ARGENTINA AGAINST FRANCE!

This was always going to be a great match .. but I don’t think anyone could have predicted just how great! A reflection of the rest of the tournament – so many unexpected twists and turns.

The first half … and pretty much up to the last 5 minutes of the second half, it was Argentina all the way. Total possession and they seemed to be running circles around the French, an exhibition of pure football brilliance, with the kind of passing you can only dream of. Messi at his best – and two great goals – a penalty taken by Messi putting him at the top of the tournament’s goal scoring league – 1 up on Mbappe. A second goal followed – Angel Di Maria 16 minutes later, taking Argentina into a convincing 2 – 0 lead at half time.

It almost looked like a done deal in the second half – Argentina again reigning supreme; but then in the space of just 97 seconds the whole match turned upside down, Mbappe scoring a penalty in the 80th minute, followed just under 2 minutes later by a second spectacular goal – GAME ON!

In extra time, Messi put Argentina ahead after 108 minutes … but just 10 minutes later France equalized with a penalty taken by Mbappe. It was TOTALLY nerve wracking – the drama was just impossible to describe – elation followed by despair in equal measure.

And then the penalties – both Messi and Mbappe scoring with confidence – but the end score was 4 – 2 to Argentina – penalties always a cruel way to end a game, let alone a world cup – but the total joy of Messi achieving that world cup victory at last was just magic to witness.

The awards ceremony was full emotion – Fernandez winning best young player of the tournament, Martinez the ‘Golden Grab’ for his goal keeping skills; Mbappe the Golden Boot – 1 more goal than Messi, little consolation .. but he’ll back, he has youth on his side; and then of course, the final and best award to Messi – the player of the  tournament and of course, captain of the winning side! What greater adulation for one man! To say his cup overfloweth would be something of an understatement. But oh so well deserved.

I watched the Messi documentary after the match and, as if the match itself hadn’t provided enough emotion, watching Messi’s story just provided the finishing touch. Watching the scenes from the 2014 World up Argentinian defeat, 3 – 4 to Germany; and Messi’s own personal story, leaving for Spain, Barcelona at the age of 12 – and then the tears of leaving 30 years on What a story – but one with the happiest ending – winning the World Cup, the only trophy to otherwise have eluded him. 35 trophies at Barcelona – a club record; the top Argentinian and Barcelona player, and with over 750 goals under his belt. His achievements are just unbelievable – and to go out on such a high – wow! Dreams are made of this.

To say those 90,000 at the stadium last night got their money’s worth – again, a wild understatement. Football at its best. And the Argentinian supporters definitely top contenders for loudest, most passionate fans at Qatar (Moroccan fans coming a close second).

France naturally will be disappointed – hoping to be the first team to win back to back world cups since Brazil did it in 1958 and 1962; and the last French victory being back in 1998 – 20 years on, yes it was disappointing. But, ‘hearts over heads’ I think most will agree, it was the best result to mark the end of a truly magnificent World Cup.

Goals:

ARG — Lionel Messi (23 mins, pen)

ARG — Angel Di Maria (36 mins)

FRA — Kylian Mbappe (80 mins, pen)

FRA — Kylian Mbappe (81 mins)

ARG — Lionel Messi (108 mins)

FRA — Kylian Mbappe (118 mins, pen)

Day 20

First of semi finals – Argentina 3 Croatia 0

Total treat – whether a Messi fan or not. This guy’s football is just wonderful to watch. No diva dramatics – just great on the ball skills.

First goal a penalty – great shot by Messi. And then two amazing goals, both set up by the great man.

Sheer magic – can’t wait for Sunday’s final – though 2nd semi should be pretty special too –

Morocco v France

France won – but what a fight Morocco put up!

Day 21

Second semi final – France 2 Morocco 0

Great match – Morocco put up a great fight but French team victorious

Day 20

First of semi-finals – Argentina 3 Croatia 0

Total treat – whether a Messi fan or not. This guy’s football is just wonderful to watch. No diva dramatics – just great on-the-ball skills.

First goal was a penalty – a great shot by Messi. And then two amazing goals, both set up by the great man.

Sheer magic – can’t wait for Sunday’s final – though 2nd semi should be pretty special too –

Morocco v France

Brazil 1 Croatia 1 – the dreaded score line – Brazil going out, Croatia winning on penalties yet again. Another example of why, in my opinion, the golden goal should be brought back … and Brazil would still be in the tournament. Have to admit to feeling gutted – such a miserable way to go out.

Argentina 2 Netherlands 2. Another one decided by penalties. Very happy that we’ll see Messi again. But what drama at the end of this match – again! Seems to be the pattern of this world cup.

A quick word about Gary Lineker ahead of Saturday’s match – he scored 48 goals for England and won the Golden Boot at 1986 World Cup in Mexico before becoming a broadcaster – the most well-paid one on record! Good to see a greater female presence this world cup.

Day 19 Saturday 10th

2 quarter finals

Morocco 1 Portugal 0 – World Cup upsets keep on coming! After watching Portugal win a convincing 6 : 1 against Switzerland, who would have predicted this result?

England 1 France 2. Sadly, this one was always going to be ‘difficult’ – in every sense of the word. Much as I obviously wanted England to win, having watched France in previous matches, I did have serious doubts and when asked to predict the score, went with France 2 England 1 which proved to be the case – I didn’t have any sense of satisfaction for having been right.

England did everything they could – no players should be singled out, least of all Harry Kane who did a magnificent first penalty but then messed up on second – being up against his Tottenham team mate, the goalie, can’t have been easy.

I know a lot of folk will blame the ref for bad decisions – why wasn’t final penalty ‘perpetrator’ not given red card? – and there were a number; but you can’t take away from the two French goals, the first of which was pure magic.

It just didn’t happen for England on the night; and although I am gutted that England have gone out, I do (sticking neck out here) think matches should, if poss, be won by sheer brilliance of goals, not just penalty taking – which puts pressure solely on one player when it is the team that should be scoring goals.

Looking forward to the semis – hope we have more magnificent football to come.

Day 17

Morocco v Spain – what a result! To penalties, and Spain losing 3:0! Amazing scenes. Great result for Morocco – first time to quarter-finals, amazing.

Portugal 6 Switzerland 1. Ronaldo on the bench! First time since 2008. What a result! Ramos, Ronaldo’s replacement scored the world cup’s first hat-trick – 3 amazing goals. Ronaldo took it in good spirits (coming on as a sub in the last 10 minutes) – if he decides to go with a club from the Arab Emirates he could earn up to £173m a year – so why wouldn’t he?!

2 days without football – what will I do?!

Day 16

Japan v Croatia (Japan described in one of the commentaries as ‘More than a tidy dressing room’!)

Brazil v South Korea Hope to see Ronaldo again spectating – thoughts with Pele’s family.

Day 15

France v Portugal Wow, even though France always looked like winning (even if Portugal played way better than they’ve played before in the competition which made it a good match), what a treat to see those goals, especially the two from Mbappe who is just phenomenal.

England v Senegal Great to see those 3 goals after a dodgy start – England will have to come out better on Saturday against France. Loved Senegal fans! First ball puncture of the competition! And interesting to hear about the chip-in ball that detects direct contact – so, sorry, Ronaldo but the truth is out!

Day 12 Thursday

Yesterday’s match results

Afternoon matches:

Australia 1 Denmark 0 – WOW What a result. Tunisia’s win meant they were back in – and scored!

Tunisia 1 France 0 Drama up til the last minute – when France seemed to have scored an equaliser only to have it disallowed. The crowd going from elation to heartbreak and then back again. Tunisia going out but huge consolation getting this victory. Just been watching a mini-documentary on France and Mbappe’s part in the 2018 World Cup victory for France – 4 -2 against Croatia; and the magnificent defeat against Argentina in the semis, 4- 3. Mbappe first teenager since Pele to score in a world cup final. Let’s hope this year’s is as exciting.

Evening matches

Drama! Who of 3 teams to go through was almost decided by the number of yellow cards! If Messi’s penalty shot had gone in (not that it should have been given – another crazy ref decision), Mexico would have been through, not Poland – which would perhaps have been a better result for the competition – can’t see France having any problems with kind of performance Poland gave last night, totally outplayed by Argentina. But that’s football.

Saudi Arabia 0 Mexico 2

Poland 0 Argentina 2

Day 11

Yesterday’s matches

  1. Netherlands 2 Qatar 0
  2. Ecuador 1 Senegal 2
  3. Iran 0 USA 1
  4. England 3 Wales 0 Great match – amazing goals by Rashford. Good to see England playing again.

Today’s matches:

Australia v Denmark

Tunisia v France

Saudi Arabia v Mexico

Poland v Argentina

Day 10

Yesterday’s matches:

  • Cameroon 3 Serbia 3
  • S. Korea 2 Ghana 3
  • Brazil 1 Switzerland 0
  • Portugal 2 Uruguay 0

Only managed to see the evening match – but what a result for the African nations – fantastic!

Portugal – two no’s in my opinion to the following questions:

  1. Was it Ronaldo’s goal? I didn’t think so watching the replays – ball seemed to go past him without contact, but it certainly didn’t change its trajectory following Fernandes’s shot. Haven’t heard any post-match interviews (bet it was an interesting chat in the Portuguese dressing room afterwards!) but I think Ronaldo is still claiming it was his – despite evidence and FIFA verdict to the contrary.
  2. Was it a handball that brought about the second goal – a penalty taken by Fernandes who went on to score a second goal – in equally questionable circumstances – no way was that a handball which gave him the penalty. If a player can’t put his hand down to stop his fall, what else can he do? Crazy decision.

Today’s matches:

  1. Netherlands v Qatar
  2. Ecuador v Senegal
  3. Iran v USA
  4. England v Wales. Hoping both teams put on an amazing performance regardless of who wins.

Day 9

Today’s matches:

  • Cameroon v Serbia
  • S. Korea v Ghana
  • Brazil v Switzerland
  • Portugal v Uruguay

Yesterday’s matches

Japan 0 Costa Rica 1 (commentary: ‘its got a kind of Sunday morning feel to it. You could take the dog for a walk across the pitch and not cause too much pandemonium’ – let’s hope it livens up a bit in the second half!)

Belgium 0 Morocco 2 – WHAT A SHOCKER! So great for African football. But Belgium, ranked second in the world?! (and having only failed to score once in last 52 games). For Morocco – what a difference a new coach makes! Great post match scenes.

Croatia 2 Canada 0

Spain 1 Germany 1

Day 8

First, comments on yesterday’s matches:

Tunisia 0 Australia 1 – wonderful scenes of Australia winning – first world cup match won since 2010. This meant a lot to them.

Poland 2 Saudi Arabia 0. Really felt for the losing team – nobody could accuse them of not giving it their all.

France 2 Denmark 1. Mbappe has to be a strong contender for that Golden Boot. Brilliant goals.

Argentina 2 Mexico 0. Messi to the rescue when it started to look like it would be a goalless draw. Great goal followed by another by youngster, Enzo Fernandez. Was it a match worth giving up Saturday night’s viewing of Strictly? Juries out!

Today’s Matches:

  • Japan v Costa Rica (commentary: ‘its got a kind of Sunday morning feel to it. You could take the dog for a walk across the pitch and not cause too much pandemonium’ – let’s hope it livens up a bit in the second half!)
  • Belgium v Morocco
  • Croatia v Canada
  • Spain v Germany – this should be a cracker

………………………………………….

The following is in Chronological Order:

It’s here again! Seems like a long time since the last one.

Let’s start with some World Cup Facts (taken from my World Cup Quiz)

  1. What number World Cup is this? (2022 is the 22nd World Cup)
  2. How many venues will be played in Qatar? (8 stadiums, 5 cities)
  3. What is the name of the official Qatar mascot for 2022? (La’eeb)
  4. What does this word mean? (Skilled Player)
  5. What kind of animal is this mascot? (A character that can be anything you want it to be, from a parallel mascot universe)
  6. What is 2022 World Cup Slogan? (Expect Amazing)
  7. What is the theme song of the 2022 World Cup? (Hayya Hayya (Better Together) sung by Trinidad Cardona, Davido and AISHA)
  8. Who are the defending champions? (France)
  9. Who did they beat in the 2018 final? (Croatia)

And finally,

  1. Who is going to win?!!

In answer to that final question, can’t find it in me not to say England … but with Brazil as a strong contender!

A lot of attention will be on key players – more so perhaps this time as this will probably be the last time we see Messi and Ronaldo on the world stage.

But the beauty of this contest is the sheer unpredictability of events – the magic of those crazy moments which make this such a memorable experience. (See Quirky Facts on quiz, one of which I will add each day during the next 28 of the competition) I know that the World Cup isn’t everyone’s ‘bag’ – and for some households (mine included) it will be a matter of some ‘banter’ (hopefully light-hearted!) over the next 4 weeks. But a bit like Strictly, it certainly gives us something to talk about – apart from the weather!

So, here we go! 4 weeks of World Cup drama – let’s hope it provides us all with, if nothing else, a much-needed form of escapism at this time.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony will take place later today, Sunday, 20 November 2022 at the Al Bayt Stadium, capacity 60,000, in Al Khor, prior to the opening match of the tournament between hosts Qatar and Ecuador. It will include performances by South Korean singer and BTS member Jungkook and the American group Black Eyed Peas. Plus Robbie Williams – though with recent stars withdrawing over human rights issues, who knows.

Then the first match between the host nation, Qatar and Ecuador – can’t wait!

Day 7

Tunisia v Australia

Poland v Saudi Arabia

France v Denmark

Argentina v Mexico

I will start with one comment on England’s performance or lack of, last night. Shameful.

What I would say to Gareth Southgate? The World Cup is about excitement, passion, love of the game and, of course, pride in representing your country. Did we see any of that last night? No. To say England’s performance was lacklustre would be understating the case. There was absolutely no desire for goals – all that kicking around in their own half, seriously? The first comment I texted to friends last night was ‘watching paint dry’. It was worse. This was no representation of great football which should be a given at the world cup – it was a really poor example to young folk – a message of ‘put in an appearance’ with a view to not losing the match – no worries re: winning, an irrelevance. If I had been in that crowd at the match last night, I, too, would have booed at the end. If they come out with this attitude again, they should not/will not progress any further in the competition. I’d rather watch teams like Saudi Arabia and Japan and Wales – who want to win, make an impression, entertain everyone. Yes, to entertain the crowds there and around the world – last night’s England performance scored zero. What would Southgate have been saying this morning if America had scored a last minute goal?

No winners last night – and really nothing in the English camp to be proud of. The comments at the end from the English camp – we’re still in the competition, pretty much summed it up.

Moving on! 

Day 2 21.11.22

Rather strange start to this competition – with no BBC coverage of the opening ceremony. I have to admit I’m finding this all rather frustrating. Without getting into the politics – yes, there are issues to be raised and awareness is of course a key element to our lives but I feel it should either all have been said before and maybe different decisions made then; or we wait til afterwards ..

The match yesterday – Ecuador won a deserved victory, 2 : 0 against the host nation Qatar – I think the first time a host nation has lost an opening match. Bizarre offside decision disallowing first goal but this proved unimportant to the end result.

So, today – and as I write I hope we can just enjoy today’s football which is:

Day 2

1pm England v Iran

4pm Senegal v Netherlands

7pm USA v Wales

Not sure how much I’ll be able to watch – but hopefully all of match tonight which should be amazing.

Day 3

Great day’s football yesterday:

England v Iran – 6:2! Fab goals – so good to see England coming out in fighting form.

Senegal v Netherland – 0:2 – Surprisingly indifferent game – won by Dutch in the end

USA v Wales – 1:1 – disappointing Welsh performance in first half when USA goal scored (brill goal – Tim Weah) but made up for it in second half, great penalty taken by Gareth Bale. Great to see Welsh back in action after 64 years – fans obviously loving it!

Matches today:

Argentina 1 Saudi Arabia 2 WOW WHAT A SHOCK! One of the biggest in world cup history – Argentinian giants beaten by a team ranked 51 in the world! But that’s w hat’s great about the World Cup – its drama and stories.

Denmark 0Tunisia 0 And what bigger story than a guy who nearly died on the pitch – coming back to play football again, representing his team Denmark in the World Cup against Tunisia. I’m talking about Eriksen of course who collapsed with a cardiac arrest during the opening match of the Euros – told he’d never play football again, and now playing his 3rd World Cup, just 6 months later. Amazing.

Mexico v Poland 0: 0

Two goal less matches made up for by evening show from France and Australia -France 4 Australia 1. Australia scored opening goal and it looked briefly like it could be another shock result – but not with the likes of Mbappe on the pitch – the world’s most expensive teenager in history – what a title! And great 2 goals from Giroud – equalling Henri’s record of 51 goals for France.

Day 4

10 am Morocco v Croatia – 0:0 match with frustratingly no goals

1pm Germany v Japan – another shock result! Germany losing to Japan

4pm Spain 7 Costa Rica 0 Too easy.

7pm Belgium 1 Canada 0 Match of missed chances – bitter disappointment for Canadians who just couldn’t convert.

Bring on the Brazilians tomorrow!

Day 5

10 am Switzerland v Cameroon 1:0

1pm Uruguay v South Korea 0:0

4pm Portugal v Ghana 3 – 2 What a match! Nearly another upset – crazy last minute when Portuguese goalie unaware of Ghana player behind him when taking goal kick – such a shame latter tripped – the look on Ronaldo’s face was priceless!

7pm Brazil v Serbia. 2:0 Great second half – lots of attacking play and goal opportunities – a style Brazil always brings to the table, rarely disappoint. A lot of Arsenal/Tottenham Hotspur banter going on during this game!

Day 6

10am Wales v Iran

1pm Qatar v Senegal

4pm Netherlands v Ecuador

7pm England v USA

Results from yesterday:

Wales 0 Iran 2 – heart-wrenching match for the Welsh. To lose in such circumstances – goalie red-carded and then 2 inevitable goals that followed.

Qatar 1 Senegal 3 Senegal showing real guts

Netherlands 1 Ecuador 1 Another gutsy match full of drama

And then there was the English match …

England 0 USA 0 I seriously feel sorry for folk who had this as ‘the match to watch’ – it wasn’t! I know I’ve had my rant above but I still feel it needs saying – if you do your best then nobody can criticise you .. and apart from substitutions at the end, there was nothing to watch – the first half was just dire – keeping the ball in play, almost a clock watching exercise. This is NOT what we want at a world cup or any other kind of match for that matter. This was a lesson in how not to represent your country – I would almost have preferred they lost than play in this desultory manner. Yes, they’ll probably go on – this was their main line of defence when interviewed at the end; but seriously, is that what this game is all about? A definite NO from me. I want to see passion and players pushing themselves to fulfil their potential – a showcase of football – GOALS – WINNING – not just ‘playing it out’.

Sorry, end of second rant!

Sue’s walking Blog

This was intended as a forerunner to Sue’s Walks website but as it has now gone live it is just a reminder of what can be found at Sues Walks Web site.

I would love to share my walking experiences with interested folk with the aim of providing walks tailored to the requirements of those visiting the Island – that is, the Isle of Wight where I am now resident.

Since moving here I have been blown away with just what a walkers paradise this place is! There are walks for everyone – young and old, those loving coastal rambles (I’ve walked all the way round) and those who prefer inland scenery – the downs walks are just beautiful.

I think the sheer choice of walks could be somewhat bewildering to those new to the Island – and it is often the lesser-known parts of the place that are the most attractive.

I am also building up a list of contacts of those offering accommodation so that is also an option – again for those who perhaps are looking for places a little off the beaten track.

I am familiar with most areas of the Island – I have walked extensively since moving here – though of course, I am daily discovering new places which makes it all the more exciting.

I am offering my services at this year’s Isle of Wight Walking Festival – two walks: October 9th and October 19th which I am really looking forward to – even though the planning of my routes has proved way harder than I’d anticipated (more of that further on!)

I have added probably at least another 100 miles since this early record. Its all in my diary which I will refer to.

But that’s just something to be going on with.

The following are a selection of walks I will offer in future.

New Years Walks Plus

Happy New Year everyone – yes, I know that’s a bit late! So, quick catch up on the last few walks I’ve done:

Carisbrooke to Freshwater Bay .. and caves!

It was a bit of a dull old day, New Year’s Day – but greyness definitely lifted by end of the cave experience!

Amazing rocks at Whitecliffe Bay

Another grey day but take a look at these colours!

Pepperpot/Hoy’s Monument Circular

Always windy along ridge – and on this occasion, very muddy on route back along valley – coastal path not so bad

Yarmouth Circular

Lovely walk along the estuary and back along the coast via Golden Fort.

Shorwell Circular

Including a close encounter with a goose!

Shanklin to Ventnor

Nice treat at the end!

Brightstone to Calbourne Circular

We won’t talk about mud in Brightstone Forest (or yours truly getting stuck on a barbed wire fence in a bid to escape) .. but sunset at the end was magnificent!

Shanklin to Luccombe Low-tide 22nd of September

This walk is only possible at certain times of the day as the sea comes right up to the base of the cliffs and, beautiful as they are, you wouldn’t want to have to call on the coastal helicopter!

Shanklin circular 22nd September

So much to see and do – including sampling one of 44 flavours of ice cream along the sea front! Shanklin Chine is not only very beautiful but has a film for viewing at the information centre that tells the full story of PLUTO. Countless gift shops of high quality, tea rooms, pubs – the walk is a useful introduction to where everything is.

24th of September. Seaview to Ryde and back. 5 miles. Around 2 hours to Ryde pier and back.

Extra time may be added on for the following options: a walk up Ryde high street, a stop off at one of numerous cafes/pubs; a visit to Hershey Nature Reserve; and a wander around Seaview.

A fab walk including beach, tower, hovercraft port, pier, and not forgetting that ‘Nice Rink’!  Visit to Nature Reserve, stop at beach or harbourside café, and walk around Seaview all optional extras.

Around Carisbrooke Castle.

The views from the ramparts are just stunning of the local countryside – a lovely walk from the castle takes you up onto Tennyson Down and back.

Bembridge Harbour to Lifeboat and back

finding out all about the RNIB makes the walk to the end of the pier more than worth it.

Colwell, Toland, Alum Bay and The Needles and back.

A walk of great variety, with beautiful beaches, heathland, and stunning coastal vistas. This walk has it all .. including best, certainly prettiest loos on the Island and wise words on tides.

Duver to St. Helens and back

Beautiful beach, ‘raised pathway across the water’ and the pretty harbour with some very fine boathouses – that you can stay in!

Fort Victoria Country Park and Yarmouth.

The walk can be done just taking in the Park and nearby Yarmouth; or extended for a beautiful circular up the estuary – as far over as Freshwater Bay and back. Numerous options – short and long, around here

Seaview to St Helens Fort

l lucked out on an exceptionally low tide and was able to walk all the way out to St. Helens Fort. Even when this is not possible, the beach is very beautiful with inland options in the event of high tides

Shankin to Bonchurch circular

One of my favourites – featured on the first day of the Walking Festival (though a certain ‘path closure’ did mean re-routing and unfortunately missing Bonchurch ‘bit’. Fingers crossed this path re-opens in or before 6 months as it is a major inconvenience … and questionably necessary).

So quick and very tiny sample of walks I did during the first 10 weeks I was over here:

Week 1

  • Culver Down – along top
  • Home – Sandown – Culver Down – Home
  • Sandown to Shanklin – along beach

Week 2

  • Brading Marshes (Quay Lane)
  • Brading to Algerstone
  • Shanklin to Ventnor
  • Brading walk up near Nunwell House
  • Fishbourne to Ryde

Week 3

  • Bembridge to Whitecliffe
  • Fishbourne to Wootten Bridge
  • Helen’s Duver to Seaview (crazy mud at Priory Woods!)

Week 4

  • Ventnor to St. Lawrence
  • Seaview to Ryde
  • Shanklin to Bonchurch (circular book walk)
  • Newchurch to Alvestone (circular book walk)
  • Osborne House grounds

Week 5

  • Brading walk
  • Sandown I hour stroll
  • Sandown to Shanklin (top path) and Yaverland
  • Brading Marshes to Bembridge (Eagle!)

Week 6

  • Sandown to Shanklin (and beyond on beach – low tide)
  • Duver
  • Yaverland Beach
  • Sandown to Shanklin

Week 7

  • Ryde
  • Sandown
  • Culver Down to Whitecliff – afternoon at Bonchurch/Devils Chimney/Smugglers Haven
  • Godshill – Appelcrombe House (circular walk book)
  • Cowes – Gurnard – Thorness Bay (mud!)
  • Chale Bay (2 Chines walk)
  • Carisbrooke Castle (circular walk from book)

Week 8

  • Ryde (Dover Park and Town) – Yaverland
  • Black Gang Chine to St Lawrence along top, back via Niton Undercliff and St. Catherine’s Lighthouse
  • Colwell and Totland to Alum Bay and Needles
  • Bouldnor (Yarmouth) to West Hampstead MUD!
  • Brook to Freshwater Bay

Week 9

  • Freshwater loop to Needles
  • Yaverland Low Tide walk
  • Mottistone Loop plus coast

Week 10

  • Brading Trail
  • Bembridge Lifeboat to Whitecliff Bay and back
  • Culver Down to Whitecliffe Bay

… all above clocks up to over 100 miles!

Sues Blog

Another Xmas done and on our way to a new year!

I’d just like to say a huge thank you to all my customers for your support – it is always very much appreciated.

Life doesn’t always ‘go our way’ and if anyone is reading this who could do with a lift and a walk, please check out TAKE A HIKE on my blog on my walks website www.sues-walks-isle-of-wight.co.uk in which I will be talking about walks I’d like to take in the new year – during January.

I have just added The Salem Witch Trials Guided Reading (5 mini plays, 6 speakers each – plus 5 quizzes, one for each play). I found the content, on re-reading, truly shocking – how total innocents fell foul of total madness – a whole community decimated by the ravings of a handful of ‘bored youngsters’.

I have also written lectures on:

The Salem Witch Trials

&

Gunpowder, Fire and Plague

The above are part of a collection of talks/slide presentations (lectures) I have written (and delivered) with notes accompanying power point slides – numbering anything from 20 to 200 depending on the subject matter!

These have been sitting in three large files for the last three years (thank you Covid!) so I thought it was about time they saw the light of day. I will therefore be adding these to my website so that teachers and fellow speakers (I go into care homes) can make use of what I think are useful and interesting resources.

Queen Elizabeth II in March 2015
Queen_Elizabeth_II_in_March_2015.jpg

The death of our late Queen Elizabeth came as a great shock to us all.

She had been such a constant in our lives that suddenly there seemed a great void – a massive sense of loss.

The sequence of events during the last 24 hours has been breathtakingly swift. We have seen our new King greeting the crowds outside Buckingham Palace and then delivering a ‘tribute’ to his mother whilst making his own pledge of allegiance to the British public. This ‘seamless transition’, whilst perhaps catching us a little off guard in its speed, has however served to help fill the aforementioned void along with giving much-needed reassurance. Charles has publicly affirmed his determination to dedicate himself totally to his new role and there can be no questioning his commitment to duty – following in the extraordinary footsteps of his beloved mother.

I have written a script A Tribute to Queen Elizabeth II – A celebration of her Life which I hope will serve as some form of acknowledgement of just how much the late queen meant to us.

I have just written and added to this website three scripts based on Isle of Wight history – Dinosaur Island, Beautiful Brading and Escape from Carisbrooke Castle plus a script on the Island’s wonderful resident red squirrels.

I would like to take this opportunity to mention my other website www.sues-walks-isle-of-wight.co.uk which has a collection of guided walks that I can provide on the Island – where I am currently resident; and which include, as per the scripts mentioned above, the beautiful coasts of Yaverland and Compton Bay where the majority of dinosaur remains are found; the historic town of Brading, and a beautiful walk around Carisbrooke Castle, going up onto the  Tennyson Trail.

For anyone who has read this blog recently apologies for the lack of updating. I have been a bit preoccupied with ‘walking the Island’ to where I moved just over a year ago. I think what they say about ‘time standing still on the Island’ is weirdly true – and I’m afraid it has adversely affected my work output over the last year. This will change shortly due to changed circumstances – namely moving back to the mainland when I will resume my former prodigious work output!

Sept 16

Just been listening to a fascinating In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg. Living as I do now on ‘prime dinosaur terrain’ on the Isle of Wight my ears always prick up when these awesome beasts from millions of years ago are mentioned.  On the programme, a number of experts were discussing crocodiles and their past – as in 250 million years ago.

So as briefly and concisely and simply as I can, this is a brief summary – may be helpful to any teachers doing dinosaurs and using my scripts. The crocodiles lorded it over the dinosaurs up to the end of the Triassic period – they were the top guys/top of the food chain. Then there was the first of the two major mass extinctions 201 million years ago and dinosaurs came out of this into the Jurassic Period much better than the crocodiles – dinosaurs now top dogs, one group much bigger and another, the raptors, smaller with wings and able to fly which became birds. Crocodiles managed to survive by adapting to more aquatic existence and now looked like whales. This adaptation saved the crocodiles and lack of proved the downfall of dinosaurs, none of whom made this adaptation and so became fully extinct at next mass extinction 66 million years ago (asteroid around 6 miles in radius hitting Earth – effects of which didn’t affect lakes and rivers  – a global winter followed, with no photosynthesis able to take place due to extremely limited sunshine, and thus detritus as opposed to plant based ecosystems only ones to survive – i.e. where crocs were. 

Big question today is, how come there are only 25 species of crocodiles still in existence when there were over 500 in the past (millions of years ago)? Why is contemporary croc not as adaptable as his predecessor? And why are birds doing so much better? An interesting discussion.

Just a brief reference to what you will find in ‘Blog below’. One of the Lockdown activities I did last year was to chart Days in the Past, starting April 15th and going up to June 22nd . For some reason, these dates appeared backwards (don’t ask!) and, rather than delete a lot of ‘hard work’ I thought I’d leave them in, along with some other Blog entries going back to January of last year. So please feel free to dip into these dates, for this coming term – you could do a ‘What happened on this day’ kind of exercise in school, perhaps.

Days in the Past

June 22nd

1949: Birth of of Meryl Streep

1989: in China, 7 students involved in the Tiananmen Square protest are shot after televised show trials.

June 21st

1982: Birth of Prince William

June 20th

1837: 18 year old Victoria accedes to the English throne on the death of her uncle William IV

1909: Birth of movies swashbuckling hero Errol Flynn

June 19th

1829: Founding of London Metropolitan Police Force

1953: No clemency for Rosenbergs

June 18th

1928: First woman to fly Atlantic – 30 yr old Amelia Earhart

June 17th

1775 Battle of Bunker Hill

1944 Iceland becomes independent republic

1991 World in AIDS fight – 8,000 scientists and researchers gathered in Florence for an international conference on the AIDS pandemic.

June 16th

1961 Ballet star Nureyev leaps to freedom

June 15th

1752 Franklin’s kite stunt – to prove electricity and lightning same thing.

1919 Capt John Alcock and Lt Arthur Whitten Brown  completed world’s first non-stop flight across the Atlantic.

1934 Hitler and Mussolini meet for the first time

June 14th

1917 German planes bomb London for the first time

1928 Birth of Che Guevara – legendary Argentinian-born revolutionary

1964 Nelson Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment

June 13th

1381 Peasants Revolt – Workers march against poll tax –  – crowd of angry peasants led by Wat Tyler

1989 Mikhail Gorbachev and Chancellor Kohl agree that East and West Germany should be reunited.

June 12th

1929 Birth of Anne Frank

1991 Russians go to vote in first democratic election

June 11th

1946 Italy becomes a republic

1979 Death of John Wayne

1988 Celebration of Nelson Mandela’s birthday – 80,000 at London’s Wembley Stadium celebrating biggest 70th birthday party ever.

South Africa The Good News / www.sagoodnews.co.za

June 10th

Elizabeth_II__Philip_after_Coronation

1692 Witch Hunt Fever Sweeps Salem

1967 Israel doubles in size (200% expansion in territory)

1921 Birth of Prince Phillip Duke of Edinburgh

1922 Birth of Judy Garland

June 9th

1781 Birth of George Stephenson English engineer who developed greatly improved steam locomotive.

1870 Death of Charles Dickens

June 8th

632 Death of Mohammed, prophet and founder of Islam.

1968 Martin Luther King’s killer arrested in London – James Earl Ray

June 7th

1848 birth of Paul Gauguin

1905 Norway declares its independence from Sweden

1960 Birth of Prince American singer and musician

1971 India seals its border with newly independent Bangladesh to keep out cholera-stricken refugees

Paul Gauguin

June 6th

1949 1984 George Orwell’s novel published

1961 Death of Carl Gustav Jung- founder of analytical psychology. “Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you”.

1984 Amritsar Massacre – At Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s orders, Indian troops storm Golden Temple in Holy City of Amritsar to arrest Sikh militants taking refuge there – 712 Sikhs and 90 soldiers killed.

June 5th

1783 Hot air balloon, made of linen and paper, launched over Annonay, France – made by brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacque-Etienne Montgolfiier – rising 6000ft in air, for 10 minutes

1963 John Profumo – British Secretary of State for War – forced to quit after affair with Christine Keeler – allegedly also involved with Russian diplomat Captain Ivanov, a former naval attache at the Soviet Embassy 1968 Bobby Kennedy shot

Montgolfier brothers

June 4th

By Jon - Trooping the Colour, 16th June 2007, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2521641

1798 Death of Casanova – writer, traveller, adventurer, soldier, spy, diplomat … and dedicated ladies’ man

1805 First ceremony of Trooping of the Colour at Horse Guards Parade, London

June 3rd

1875 Death of French composer Georges Bizet best known for opera Carmen

1899 Death of Johann Strauss – composer of the Blue Danube

1924 Death of German novelist and short story writer Franz Kafka

1937 Former King Edward VIII of Great Britain and Ireland married his American bride, Wallis Warfield Simpson having chosen bride over crown.

June 2nd

1946 Italy becomes a republic

1953 Queen Elizabeth II crowned

1964 PLO formed in Jerusalem 1985 English football clubs banned indefinitely from playing in Europe on account of hooliganism by British fans abroad.

June 1st

1926 Birth of Marilyn Monroe

1942 T.V. licenses first issued in Britain

1979 Zimbabwe becomes Rhodesia

2002 Queen celebrates her Golden Jubilee

2004 Nelson Mandela announces retirement from public life

May 31st

1930 Birth of Clint Eastwood

1961 South Africa becomes republic independent of the British Commonwealth

May 30th

1431 Joan of Arc burnt at the stake

1819 Birth of Queen Victoria

1941 Birth of Bob Dylan

1974 Death of Duke Ellington

May 29th

1660 Coronation of Charles II – after England’s only period of republicanism.

1903 Birth of Bob Hope

1917 Birth of John F. Kennedy

1953 Everest crowned by Hillary and Tenzing

May 28th

1908 Birth of Ian Fleming – creator of 007

1968 Birth of Kylie Minogue

1985 thousands drown as cyclone hits Bangladesh.

May 27th

1900 Belgium first country to elect gov by proportional representation

1977 God Save the queen released by The Sex Pistols

2003 Over 2000 dead following earthquake in Algeria

May 26th

1865 American Civil War over – half a million dead

1703 Death of Samuel Pepys

1907 Birth of John Wayne

1940 Dunkirk

May 25th

1768 Captain Cook sets off from England on voyage to explore the Antipodes in ship the Endeavour.

1935 Jesse Owen, 21 yr old black student athlete from Albama set 5 new world records and equalled a sixth – in one afternoon in a single hour! He equalled the 100 yards record, then set new records for the long jump 220 yards and 220 yard hurdles, breaking the 200 m records on the way!

1990 Brit pm Margaret Thatcher warned of dangers of global warming and pledged Britain to 30 % reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

May 24th

1543 Death of Copernicus who turned heavens upside down.  – or at least Church’s doctrine on man’s place in the universe. i.e. our world is not the centre about which all else in the heavens urns, as Aritotle and Ptolemy claimed. His book, On the revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres claimed that the Earth and other planets revolve round the sun; the universe far greater than previously understood to be and man’s place in it is far from central. Very controversial at the time.

1686 Birth of Gabriel Fahrenheit German physicist who invented the mercury thermometer.

1819 Birth of Queen Victoria

1941 Birth of Bob Dylan

1974 Death of Duke Ellington

May 23rd

1701 Birth of Carl Linnaeus Swedish botanist who established the principles for classifying and naming plants and animals.

1701 Captain William Kidd was hanged for piracy and murder in London.

1948 The Empire Windrush sets sail from Jamaica with the first boatload of West Indian immigrants invited to Britain to help with post-war reconstruction.

May 22nd

1813 Birth of Richard Wagner

1927 Richard Nixon first US president to visit USSR

1981 Peter Sutcliffe the Yorkshire Ripper found guilty of murdering 13 women and attempted murder of seven others

May 21st

1840 New Zealand proclaimed a British colony

1927 Completion of first solo flight across Atlantic by Charles Lindbergh

1966 Cassius Clay still the greatest after British Henry Cooper failed to defeat him

2003 Over 2000 dead following earthquake in Algeria

May 20th

1506 Death of Christopher Columbus – in Spain, virtually penniless at 55 still believing he had reached Asia.

1588 The Spanish Armada sets sail on mission to conquer the English

1609 The sonnets of William Shakespeare are published

1802 France restores slavery and the slave trade in her colonies

1895 Income tax is declared unconstitutional in the US (good times!)

1910 End of the world didn’t happen – as comet passes

1939 First Chelsea Flower Show in London approx. 200,000 attending

1945 Birth of Cher

1961 Final voyage of The Orient Express – killed by jet travel

2006 The world’s largest hydro-electric dam, The Three Gorges Dam, is completed in China.

May 19th

1836 Anne Boleyn goes to the block

1649 England declared Commonwealth by the Rump Parliament

1898 Death of British statesman William Gladstone at 88, elected Liberal prime minister four times.

1935 Death of Lawrence of Arabia in motorcycle accident down Dorset lane

1945 Birth of Pete Townshend – guitarist with The Who

1994 Death of Jacqueline Kennedy

2007 Official opening of new Wembley Stadium

May 18th

1919 Birthday of Dame Margot Fonteyn, British ballerina and partner of Rudolph Nureyexv

1954 European Convention on Human Rights comes into effect.

1975 First woman, Japanese Junko Tabei, to reach summit of world’s highest peak, Mount Everest in Nepal (29,029 ft)

Fonteyn_Helpmann

May 17th

1510 Death of great Florentine painter Sandro Botticelli aged 65 – penniless

1861 Birth of package holiday

1993 Rebecca Stephens first British woman to climb Everest

May 16th

1989 First successful hole in the heart operation carried out.

1991 Frances’s first female prime minister Edith Cresson

May 15th

1918 World’s first regular air mail service begins between Washington and New York

1928 Medics take to the Skies of Oz. Medical care went airbourne in Australia today with the launching of a Flying Doctor Service.

1936 Amy Johnson arrives in England after a record breaking return flight from London to Cape Town

1991 Cyclone death toll in Bangladesh climbs towards 250,000.

May 14th

1796 British physician Edward Jenner carries out the first successful vaccination against smallpox

1847 HMS Driver completes the first round the world voyage by a steamship

1900 The second modern Olympic Games open in Paris

1948 Birth of Israel – 400,000 Jews proclaim Zionist state of Israel

May 13th

1981 Pope John Paul II shot I Vatican by Turkish gunman but survived

May 12th

1812 Birth of Edward Lear

1820 Birth of Florence Nightingale

1969 Minimum voting age in Britain lowered from 21 to 18

Edward Lear

May 11th

1812 British prime minister Spencer Perceval is shot dead in the House of Commons

1904 Birth of Salvador Dali

1941 Blitz batters London

1956 Elvis Presley first enters UK charts with Heartbreak Hotel

1985 The main stand at Bradford City football ground in norther England catches fire, killing 40 and injuring more than 170

1991 Cyclone death toll in Bangladesh climbs towards 250,000.

May 10th

1849 Death of Hokusai, great Japanese printmaker

1899 Birth of Fred Astaire, American actor, dancer and singer.

May 9th

1860 Birth of J.M. Barrie Sottish dramatist – best known as writer of Peter Pan.

1911 British parliament agrees to Home Rule for Ireland

May 7th

1840 Birth of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky

1926 The voting age of women in Britain reduced from 30 to 21.

1945 Surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies

2010 First Coalition Gov in UK since WW II led by Conservative party leader David Cameron

May 6th

1856 Birth of Sigmund Freud Austrian pioneer of psychoanalysis

1877 Sioux chief Crazy Horse surrenders and gives up all claim to Nebraska (Wild Wild West)

1910 George V accedes to throne on death of King Edward VII

1915 Birth of Orson Welles (Time Machine)

1937 The German transatlantic airship Hindenburg exploded while landing in New Jersey killing 35 of 97 aboard.

1954 Four minute mile broken by Roger Bannister.

May 5th

1818 Birth of Karl Marx

1865 First train robbery carried out – Ohio, USA

1963 Launch of Britain’s first satellite

1967 Flower-power anthem ‘San Francisco’ enters US singles charts

By Bryan Costales ©2009 Bryan Costales, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0 - Bcx.Org: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.bcx.org/photos/events/concerts/ffair/?file=KFRCFantasyFair19670603_7464SBCX.jpg">http://www.bcx.org/photos/events/concerts/ffair/?file=KFRCFantasyFair19670603_7464SBCX.jpg</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0" title="Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13259768">Link</a>

May 4th

1852 Birth of Alice Liddell – inspiration for Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass books.

1926 First ever General Stike – Britain comes to a standstill.

1970 Four students shot dead by US National Guardsmen at massed anti-war protest. 2 more shot dead at Jackson State University, Mississippi – nationwide demonstrations following President Richard Nixon sending US troops into Cambodia week before.

1979 Maggie Thatcher moves into No. 10!

May 3rd

1915 In Flanders fields the poppies blow – written by Canadian poet, John McCrae, this day.

1937 Gone with the Wind writer Margaret Mitchell wins a Pulitzer Prize for this her first novel

2008 Over 84,000 die as Cyclone Nargis sweeps through Myanmar

May 2nd

1519 Death of Leonardo da Vinci – Florentine painter – as famous for his scientific brilliance as for his art

1729 Birthday of Catherine II Empress of Russia – gained throne in 1762 after coup in which husband Peter III was murdered.

1904 Birthday of Bing Crosby

1975 Birthday of David Beckham, English footballer

May 1st

1851 Queen Victoria opens Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, London.

1873 Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone died of malaria in central Africa aged 60.

1904 Death of Dvorak, composer of New World Symphony.

1931 Then tallest building in the world, Empire State Building in New York, opened by US President Herbert Hoover.

1967 Elvis Presley married Priscila Beaulieu.

1997 Tony Blair elected UK Prime Minister.

April 29th

1980 Death of Alfred Hitchcock ‘Drama is life with the dull bits cut out’. Through films like Psycho, Vertigo, and The Birds, legendary director proved the master of his art.

2011 Prince William marries Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey.

April 28th

1770 Captain Cook lands at Botany Bay

1789 Mutiny on the Bounty

2009 Mexico confirms the outbreak of swine flu in humans

April 27th

Ferdinand Magellan

1521 Death of Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan at hand of locals in Philippines. (Tudor Explorers)

1828 London Zoo ‘inauguration’ – open to general public soon after.

1937 Opening of Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

1986 Chernobyl. Meltdown in nuclear reactor following fire at Chernobyl nuclear power station, Ukraine. No word of warning from Soviet authorities as radiation spread to neighbouring countries.

Birthdays

1791 Samuel Morse American inventor of the magnetic telegraph and Morse code

April 26th

1900 Massive fire makes 12,000 homeless in Hull and Ottawa area.

1937 Fascists unleash terror on Guernica. Civil war in Spain – bombing by German planes of medieval Basque town of Guernica – German and Italian forces supporting rebel Nationalist forces of Fascist leader General Franco.

1994 First Multi-racial elections in South Africa after three and a half centuries of white domination.  Nelson Mandela of ANC tipped to become president.

Word of the Day

Illation – a deduction or conclusion

April 24

1660 The English Parliament votes for restoration of monarchy.

1719 Robinson Crusoe published in London.

1953 Scientists (British Francis Crick and American James Watson) crack the genetic code – publication of paper establishing structure and function of DNA.

1964 Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen loses her head to thieves.

1559 Birthday of Oliver Cromwell – Lord Protector of England 1653 – 8.

Word of the Day

Ikebana – the art of Japanese flower arrangement.

April 24

1858 Ben is back. The best and biggest bell in the world, Big Ben, is at last ready to behung in the clock tower of Westminster Palace, at 2nd attempt.

1949 The rationing of sweets in post-war Britain comes to an end, but is reintroduced 4 months later due to unsustainable demand

1986 Death of Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, for whom Ed VIII gave up his thrown. She was 89

1942 Birthday of Barbara Streisand – Oscar winning star of Funny Girl

Word of the Day

Zymosis – fermentation

From the BBC website today:

It’s 30 years ago to the day that the Hubble telescope was launched – and to celebrate its birthday, the veteran observatory has produced another astonishing image of the cosmos.

This one is of a star-forming region close to our Milky Way Galaxy, about 163,000 light-years from Earth.