Saturday, 19 December 2009

Xmas night out at the Milton

It may have been a bit snowy, but we all made it safely along to the Milton last night for our Xmas dinner - eventually. Last to arrive was Dick, greeted by a fanfare of hooters from the hungry throng.

There had been some e-mailed correspondence on whether to have party hats and crackers or not, but, in the end I made an executive decision that we should have them. Obviously, the hats weren't tailor made - some heads were too big for them - or was it that Harry just didn't want to wear his? Oh, go on, Harry, enjoy yourself and smile for the camera:





That's better!




Keith was a bit suspicious of his hat, as Jo looked on wondering whether she had to put hers on too:




Eventually, she did:



Are Annette and I wearing matching hats?:




Some of the hats were vaguely oriental looking. Here's Jack auditioning for his part in the Christmas panto as Widow Twanky:



Dan was engaged in earnest conversation with Eileen and Linda:



Gordon was a rebellious non hat wearer, but Doris was happy to pose with hers on:





That's better, Gordon!

Jackie dons her glasses as Hugh and Les are in deep discussion/debate:



Finally, Hugh realised he couldn't ignore his wife for much longer:



Richard and Fiona:



What's Angela saying here?:



Archie looks pleased with his new hip - note crutches on table:



Mary and Gail were celebrating with champagne at the end of the evening:



Thanks to all for coming along - and apologies for those whose photos I didn't manage to get.

Wednesday, 2 September 2009

Rubble

The sad site on Wednesday 2nd September:


30 years of memories and good friends made - now just a pile of rubble.

Friday, 10 April 2009

Deeside Piper 10th April, 2009

Check out this week's Piper (http://www.deesidepiper.co.uk/sport/Banchory-clinches-cup.5152365.jp) featuring the following photo and article:

Squash
Banchory clinches the cup

The Banchory squash team lifted the Grampian Squash Division Four Team Knockout trophy by beating league champions Shell in a nail-biting final.

The team currently has no home court after losing access to the courts they previously used at Tor-na-Coille Hotel last year.However a handful of Banchory squash players persevered to maintain a presence in the Grampian Squash Leagues and found an alternative squash court for their home matches.The season drew to a close last Friday (April 3) with the team knockout trophy with Banchory edging past Garioch in the quarter-finals before recording a convincing win over ASRC Raeburn in the semi-finals to earn a place against Shell in the final.

An early lead built by number five Mark Everard was worn away in a tough fourth string match between Michael Boyne and Shell's Andrew Forbes.At third, Banchory's Gary Small was up against Robbie Patterson, the division's individual champion. A stalwart performance by Gary prevented Shell running away with the match as he pulled the score back against Robbie's substantial lead so that Banchory were only five points behind going into the second string match.Neil Young faced Shell's Graham Cowie next having lost to the Shell player in both of their previous league encounters. However, a determined effort by Neil allowed him to control the match and take an unexpected 26-13 win, giving Banchory an eight-point margin going into the final tie.

At number one, Keith Thomson faced Shell's Glenn Western, whom he had lost to in their previous league meeting. Glenn did manage to take a threatening lead but a typically strong performance from Keith allowed him to prevail and win by one point to give Banchory an overall 96-87 victory.In addition to the cup, Banchory have enjoyed a successful season in the league.

After a shaky start the team found themselves in fifth place at the midway point but settled down in the second half to pick up a few strong wins to finish third overall.Neil Young said: "The squash team would like to express their special thanks to Andrew Salvesen for the use of his Findrack court. By letting the squash team invade his home every other week for league matches, he has allowed competitive squash to survive and flourish in the area."The team would also like to say thank you to Jamie Burnett for the use of his Crathes court for practice and training. Hopefully, in the longer term, the Banchory squash team will establish a more permanent home in the proposed Hill of Banchory sports centre that is currently under discussion."

Any squash players interested in playing competitively should contact Neil Young on (01330) 824350.

Monday, 9 March 2009

Roxanne's latest rant

The Piper not only featured Roxanne's latest rant against the local councillors - her revenge, it seems, for getting her planning permission turned down - on page one, but also page 2 - and they printed her letter in full in the letters page as well:




RS-M obviously still has friends at the Piper.
Hell hath no fury etc.......


Sunday, 8 February 2009

Snowed in at Findrack

The weather didn't deter Richard, Keith, Malcolm and I yesterday and we fought our way through the deep snow to Findrack to play doubles. I was driving Jo's car and couldn't get it all the way up the hill so had to walk the last 100 yards. It snowed again when we were playing and this was Keith's car when we came out:



and Malcolm's:


I had to be rescued by the others as the car wouldn't move but a combination of Malcolm's shovel and a push from Richard and Keith got me going again.



Who says the enthusiasm for squash is diminishing?