Team photo

You may be receiving this via the Yahoo group e-mail, but it is best viewed directly from the blog on the web at http://deesidesquashracquetballclub.blogspot.com/

Courtesy of Bill Whyman, here's a photo of Banchory's current squad (mostly) in their brand new team shirts:

l-r: Neil Young, Steve Craig, Keith Thomson, Ken Black, Bill Whyman (front) and Gordon Moir. Not present were Hugh & Jackie Riches and Graeme MacAulay.

Yes, we still have a team competing in the Grampian Squash Leagues - they are currently 2nd in Division 4, with 2 matches in hand which would take them to the top of the table if they won them.

Findrack electricity

From http://deesidesquashracquetballclub.blogspot.com/

Latest quarterly bill just received:

Higher than the previous quarter, but virtually identical to the same time last year. The rate is fractionally down. I've paid this today, so that takes the remaining funds down to £229, which should be enough to survive the winter, assuming the consumption pattern is similar to last year.

Legends of Squash

From http://deesidesquashracquetballclub.blogspot.com/

No, it's not Les and Dick coming out of retirement, but my thanks go to Gordon for bringing this event to my attention - http://www.legendsofsquash.com/Legends_of_Squash___Aberdeen.html

Peter Nicol and some old rivals coming back to ASRC 21-23 September. Gordon is planning to go on Saturday afternoon. Anyone else going along?

Electricity bill + subs update

From http://deesidesquashracquetballclub.blogspot.com/

The latest bill has been received from Findrack, covering the quarter to 14th June, 2012:

The sharp-eyed amongst you may note a minor calculation error above, but I'm not making a fuss about a few pence. The units used are almost 30% lower than at the same time last year and the unit rate has been virtually the same since we started in 2009.

I have collected a total of 10 "subs" to date - Gray, Grigor, Page, Salter, Simcox, Stewart, Thomson, Whyman, Williamson and Young - don't know if there's any more to come or not, but, after paying this bill, the remaining balance is now £379, which will hopefully see us through this coming winter.

Finance update

From http://deesidesquashracquetballclub.blogspot.com/

The latest quarterly electricity bill has just been received from Findrack:

The bill is much the same as the previous quarter and is actually lower than previous years at this time. I've paid this today and this leaves £115 in the kitty, which should cover the next electricity bill. After that, however, I'll need to make a further cash call - which will be the first for 2 years.

Another Achilles victim

From http://deesidesquashracquetballclub.blogspot.com/

Greetings this morning from Singapore. That well-known Banchory Squash Veterans' disease struck poor Duncan Mitchell - now resident in Perth, WA - last week:

Get well soon, Duncan!

Another blast from the past

From http://deesidesquashracquetballclub.blogspot.com/

Hands up those who instantly recognised this face from yesterday's P & J?:

It must have been well over 20 years ago when a slightly younger looking Lindsay Masson arrived at Banchory Squash Club one midweek night, in tow with a very young Gary Coutts, who, as most know, went on to become our Club Champion God knows how many times.

The two of them worked on the Queen's Estate at Balmoral and had been playing a bit of squash at Craigendarroch, but had heard about Banchory Squash Club, which, at the time, was thriving (relatively speaking), and they wanted to try their hand and improve their games.

Of course, they were easy meat at first, but it didn't take Gary long to outstrip those of us who were there then. Lindsay played for a while but he wasn't as talented as Gary and soon drifted away.

Also about that time, we had Anthea Moore come from the Balmoral Estate and she played in our 3rd time for a few years.

Aah - memories.

Electricity/Finances

From http://deesidesquashracquetballclub.blogspot.com/

The latest quarterly bill for electricity up to Xmas has been received from Findrack Estate:

As usual, their arithmetic is slightly suspect as is the lack of consistency of the rate charged, but it's only buttons and it's in our favour again, so I'm just going to pay it.

The mount consumed in the last quarter was 10% lower than the same time last year, and the overall cost is just over £1 per day, which is certainly the cheapest squash we have ever had, or likely to have - by a long way!

Once I've paid this, I will have funds in hand of £203 and, if we're lucky and no other costs are incurred, this will last us up until about June this year, after which I'll need to make another cash call if we are to continue to use the facility.

With user numbers diminishing, the chances are that we will only have about 8 contributing to our costs going forward, and with electricity costs likely to be rising to about £500 p.a., this will mean about £60 per head. This would, however, be the first cash call for 2 years - effectively this season has been a free one.